A violent Illawarra criminal has been jailed for a decade for stabbing his girlfriend eight times in a jealous rage, then trying to buy her silence.
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Benjamin Thomas had been on parole for just two days after serving a three-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery when he attacked the woman in a bedroom in his mother's Mount St Thomas home on November 10, 2013.
Described by sentencing judge Paul Conlon as "a frightening act of violence", Thomas grabbed his victim around the throat and tried to choke her to death, before plunging a screwdriver into her neck and back eight times, believing she'd been unfaithful to him while he'd been behind bars.
Thomas was jailed for a minimum of 7 years and a maximum of 10 years in Sutherland District Court on Thursday.
Judge Conlon said the victim, helpless to repel the attack, would no doubt experience lasting psychological and emotional trauma.
"The reality is that violent attacks against women in domestic settings, and indeed in any setting, is conduct that is brutal, cowardly and inexcusable," he said.
"Accordingly, our courts have a duty to ensure that it is adequately punished and that sentences are delivered which have a strong element of personal and general deterrence."
He vehemently rejected any suggestion the woman's taunts about Thomas' masculinity during their arguments somehow mitigated his aggressive behaviour.
"A victim of domestic violence is not in the wrong place at the wrong time; a victim of domestic violence is personally targeted," he said.
The court heard Thomas and the woman had been in a relationship for about six months at the time of the incident, however in the two days since his release on parole, he had repeatedly accused her of cheating on him. The pair had been arguing for several hours on November 11 when Thomas attacked the woman, grabbing her throat in a bid to choke her.
Thomas' mother, who was home at the time, unsuccessfully tried to pull her son off the victim, even thumping him with a metal broom handle.
Thomas then dragged the victim to her knees, pulled her head back and stabbed her three times in the neck and five times in the back, before fleeing from the house.
The woman was taken to Wollongong Hospital, where it was found the screwdriver had punctured one of her lungs.
Thomas was arrested three days later and charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice. He told police he had been on drugs in the days since his release and had little memory of the attack.
He was remanded in custody, during which time he tried to have his mother pay the victim off, or have someone scare her into not giving evidence against him.
In court on Thursday, Judge Conlon said Thomas' actions in attempting to bribe and scare the woman struck at the very heart of the criminal justice system.
Judge Conlon noted Thomas had had a dysfunctional upbringing, including being exposed to alcohol and violence at a young age, and suffered from ongoing mental health issues.
He said he doubted Thomas could be successfully rehabilitated, noting that in order to do so he would have to abstain from drugs and alcohol and receive psychological counselling.
Thomas will be eligible to apply for release in May 2021.