A Tasmanian man who drove a metal pole into another man’s eye in a premeditated attack will spend at least four years behind bars, after a judge described his violence as “abhorrent”.
Christian Laurence Beaven, 35, was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania this month to six years jail for committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm.
The court heard Beaven turned up at a house in Ulverstone on September 28, 2023, looking for the victim over a grievance he could not later explain.
The victim was sitting in the kitchen of a friend’s home when Beaven walked in through the back door.
“I’m going to wreck you Jelly,” Beaven told him, using the victim’s nickname.
Beaven then took a dog that was inside the property outside – a move the judge found was calculated to stop the animal interfering – before returning with a metal pole.
He struck the victim to the back of the head as he sat on a chair, then walked around and rammed the pole into his left eye, ignoring the friend’s call to stop.
The victim suffered a ruptured eyeball, a fractured orbital floor and a broken rib.
Surgeons could not save the eye, and it was removed before a prosthesis was fitted in October 2025.
In a victim impact statement, he said he suffered nightmares, flashbacks and constant headaches and could no longer ride his motorbike.
Justice Tamara Jago said the attack was “callous”.
“Premeditated serious violence of this nature is abhorrent,” Jago said.
“It is of concern to the community and it must be punished and condemned.”
Beaven, who has a long criminal record tied to drug addiction, committed the assault a day after being placed on a drug treatment order.
He will be eligible for parole in January 2030.
