A Port Kembla man will spend at least 16 months behind bars after bashing his girlfriend unconscious just days after she suffered a miscarriage with his unborn child.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Documents tendered to Wollongong District Court on Monday said Kolby Langlo, 22, had a record for acts of violence when he punched and kneed his partner of eight months last November, causing her to have a seizure on the floor of a friend’s house.
The pair, who the court heard are now back together, had been out shopping in Warrawong for a birthday present for the victim’s mother when Langlo became angry upon learning the victim intended to stay at her mother’s house that night.
As they left the shopping centre, Langlo asked to see his girlfriend’s phone, then refused to give it back to her – a tactic he had used in the past to isolate her from her family.
Sensing the rising tension, the victim had Langlo stop at her friend’s house, however once the victim went inside, she refused to come out again. Kolby initially stayed outside, yelling at her to come out, however eventually entered the home and confronted her.
The court heard Langlo hit the woman in the head with a closed fist, sending her tumbling to the ground. As she fell, Langlo attempted to knee her in the head.
“The victim was unconscious and began convulsing in a seizure for quite some time a a direct result of the hit to her head,” police said in court documents.
Langlo left without assisting his partner, leaving her friend to contact emergency services.
The court heard the victim had lost a child to a miscarriage just days before the assault.
Langlo was arrested on November 22 and charged with assault and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order.
He was jailed for a minimum of 21 months in Wollongong Local Court last month over the assault, along with a separate matter in which he lead police on a dangerous, high-speed chase through Port Kembla.
In that incident, Langlo drove a Mitsubishi Triton so recklessly he almost collided head-on with an oncoming car while trying to flee from police.
He was eventually captured after abandoning the vehicle inside Coomaditchy Reserve and hiding inside a nearby house.
In the District Court on Monday, Langlo appealed his original sentence, claiming it was too severe.
Judge Andrew Haesler agreed to reduce Langlo’s non-aprole period to 16 months.
With time served, he will be eligible for parole in March 2019.
