South West man sentenced to jail for assault on partner ‘to the point of exhaustion’

An Eaton man who repeatedly punched his then-girlfriend in the head until he was exhausted, before threatening to kill her with a knife only stopped because she called him a “b....” for using the weapon during the ordeal.

Murray Ross Peter Bailey, 37, appeared in the Bunbury Magistrates Court on April 15 facing three charges after domestic violence incident in June following a night out playing darts.

The court was told the couple returned home in Eaton from the night out and got into a verbal argument.

This then escalated to physical violence when Bailey put his hands around the neck of the 23-year-old victim and pushed her head into a wall.

Bailey proceeded to punch her in the head for minutes until he was at the “point of exhaustion” before dragging her around several rooms, leaving significant bruising.

The court was told he also threw a bottle of fly spray at her back, leaving a large bruise.

On the same night, Bailey pushed her on to the floor and threatened her with a black handled knife, telling her he wanted to kill her and stab her.

He only stopped when she called him a “b....” for using a knife.

The victim then escaped to neighbours for help.

Magistrate Stephen Butcher said Bailey’s offending was “extremely serious”.

“One should feel safe around their partner, you violated that trust,” he said.

When deliberating on the sentencing Mr Butcher said the assault was “particularly degrading” and told the court domestic violence was a “scourge on the community”.

However, he did note Bailey’s guilty pleas despite them coming slightly later in proceedings and reduced the sentencing by 20 per cent which he said “might be seen as generous”.

He also cited Bailey’s record of petty crime in 2011 and an assault in 2019, but said the man had made the “best of his time in prison” since the June arrest.

Bailey was sentenced to a 12 months prison for the aggravated assault, and two sentences of three months to be served concurrently for the common assault and threat charges.

The sentence was backdated to his arrest date, so he is expected to be released from prison in June.