A Tasmanian man who struck his partner over the head with a glass bong during an argument has been sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Alan Blow said Jesse Dean Bakes, 26, got into an argument with the young woman on December 15, 2022.
The court heard Bakes’ 22-year-old partner was wounded and began to bleed from the blow to the head, requiring a trip to hospital for the wound to be stitched up.
“As far as I know she has made a full recovery [and] has not been left with any permanent scarring,” Chief Justice Blow said.
The judge said Bakes’ actions were “impulsive and unplanned” and that he had lost his temper.
He said Bakes pleaded guilty at a late stage in the proceedings, only after the case had been prepared for trial.
“If you had pleaded guilty at an earlier stage, when there had been no question of her giving evidence, you would have been entitled to more lenient treatment as a result of your plea,” he said.
The court also heard that Bakes failed to appear in court for a bail hearing and was extradited back to Tasmania from New South Wales.
“It would seem that you had not kept your location a secret,” the judge said.
“On the Court file there is a document indicating that you were living at an address at Uranquinty and that you were arrested and dealt with by extradition proceedings in the Local Court at Wagga Wagga.”
Chief Justice Blow said the “only appropriate sentence” was a term of 10 months imprisonment, backdated to when was taken into custody in New South Wales on February 23, 2023.
The unserved portion of the sentence was suspended for two years on the condition that Bakes commits no offences punishable by imprisonment.
A family violence order was also imposed for 12 months.
