A West Coast man who strangled his wife while her young son desperately tried to pull his hands away has walked away from court with a suspended sentence.
Troy Donald Grining, 56, was found guilty of four counts of assault against his then-wife, who moved to Tasmania from South Africa to marry him in 2019.
In August 2022, Grining pinned his wife to a couch, pressed his knee into her chest and squeezed her throat with both hands until she couldn’t breathe.
Her son witnessed the assault and screamed at Grining to stop, physically intervening to free his mother.
Grining then raised his fist twice, threatening to punch her.
Supreme Court Justice Tamara Jago said the strangulation was “inherently dangerous” and could easily have caused serious injury or death.
“… Such was the extent of your violence that the child felt compelled to intervene,” she said.
The court heard Grining was already on bail for other violent offences when he committed the assaults, including attacking his brother and recklessly discharging a firearm.
Justice Jago was scathing about Grining’s lack of remorse.
“… It is blatantly obvious that you have very little insight into the seriousness of your conduct and you are simply unwilling to acknowledge or take responsibility for what has been, at times, terrible behaviour,” she said.
Despite this, Justice Jago suspended the 15-month prison sentence for two years – a decision she made “with some hesitation”.
She cited rehabilitation evidence and trial delays as mitigating factors.
Grining was also fined $5,000, ordered to pay compensation and subjected to a five-year family violence order.
The victim’s impact statement detailed significant psychological harm to both her and her son.
Justice Jago said the trauma described was “typical of the harm that crimes of this nature commonly cause”.
“Put simply, family violence causes long-term, profound and pervasive harm, which is why it must be condemned and punished,” she said.
The offences have been recorded on Grining’s criminal record as family violence crimes.
