A man who bit off part of his girlfriend's ear has been released from prison after he was sentenced for causing her grievous bodily harm during a drunken domestic dispute.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tristan James Kent pleaded not guilty to five charges related to the January 12 incident at his Mount Warrigal home and took the matter to hearing in October.
In Wollongong Local Court earlier this month, Magistrate Mark Douglass found Kent guilty of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to his partner when he bit her, as well as possessing an unauthorised firearm.
However, Magistrate Douglass found him not guilty of two counts of intentionally choking his girlfriend and assault occasioning actual bodily harm due to a lack of evidence.
In court on Monday, Kent was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment that was backdated to January 12, which was when he was arrested and remanded in custody.
Kent was released from prison on Monday.
He was also fined $500 for having a toy gel gun, that he purchased online.
The court heard, during the hearing, that the woman became verbally and physically abusive towards Kent that night after they started arguing, and she ignored his repeated requests for her to leave.
Kent left the home but returned a short time later, where he took his partner's phone, telling her he would only give it back to her once she packed up and left.
He told hold of the woman, with her positioned in front of him, as his arm was around her shoulder.
The woman then reached inside Kent's pocket for his phone but, finding it empty - moved her hand to the front of his pants and grabbed him in an "extremely aggressive" way, "squeezing, pulling and twisting" his genitals.
The woman bit him on the arm prompting Kent to bite her on the ear, severing it. The injury required medical treatment.
Magistrate Douglass said Kent had caused the woman "very serious and lasting injury" and had used "excessive" force when biting her which was was he was found guilty of recklessly inflecting grevius bodily harm.
Magistrate Douglass said a "clear message must be sent to the community" about domestic violence offences.
"Given both of their levels intoxication and antagonism, the inevitable occurred," he said.
When considering his sentence, Magistrate Douglass also noted the context of the incident and took into account the woman refused to leave the home, they were grappling over a phone and the woman was applying significant pressure to his testicles prompting him to bit her after she bit him.
Magistrate Douglass also took into account Kent's young age, family ties, that he owned his own business, his lack of violent criminal history and that he had undertaken rehabilitation courses for substance abuse and anger management while in prison.
He told Kent he hoped he now had "the skills to walk away" if there was another intoxicated quarrel.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
Subscribe to our newsletters
