Tears were shed in Orange Local Court last week when a woman, her father and her brother were sentenced for assaulting her former partner in the presence of a child.
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The woman pleaded guilty to domestic violence common assault for slapping the man.
The two men pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others, for punching him a number of times in the face while he was trapped in his car and sitting next to his 13-year-old child.
The trio are not named to protect the identities of the victim and child.
Defence allegations
Defence solicitor Mason Manwaring represented the trio and said the victim "was not well liked" by the family and the two men believed he was intoxicated. He said the assault took place when they lost control of their emotions while trying to stop him from drink-driving with the child in the car.
"Police hadn't arrived and they tried to pull him out and in an attempt to pull him out they struck him," Mr Manwaring said.
"He's trying to protect his granddaughter."
However, police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Brien said there was no mention of intoxication in the police "facts" provided to the court for sentencing.
"The police were clearly and properly otherwise engaged in the assault," Mr Manwaring responded.
First assault
According to the court documents, an arrangement was in place for the man to collect his 13-year-old daughter and take her to Queensland on December 27, 2022, last year.
However, he arrived the night before and parked on the street outside his former partner's house with the intention of sleeping in his ute. However, about 10.30pm he was sitting in the tub of the ute with the child and drinking a beer when the girl's mother came outside and the two former partners got into an argument.
The woman hit the beer out of his hand and slapped him in the left side of the jaw without causing an injury. Police were called and she was arrested and taken to Orange Police Station for common assault.
The man returned to the address the next morning about 4am and was assaulted again, this time by the woman's 39-year-old brother and 62-year-old father.
Second assault
According to the court documents the child was in the front passenger seat about 4.30am when her uncle opened the driver's side door and attempted to drag her father out of the vehicle.
The victim braced himself to avoid being dragged out and the uncle punched him an unknown number of times in the face.
The uncle then stepped to the side and his father punched the victim in the face - again, an unknown number of times - while the daughter's property was removed from the back of his vehicle.
He was told to leave so he drove a short distance away, pulled over and called the police.
He gave a statement to the police then attended Orange Hospital for treatment of his injuries, which included significant swelling and bruising to his left eye as well as cuts to his nose and mouth.
The girl also gave a statement to the police, which was consistent with the victim's statement.
Arrests made
The uncle was arrested at the address and the grandfather was arrested at Orange Police Station when he attended at 5.50am.
He told police he would not allow the victim's child to get into the vehicle because he believed the victim was intoxicated. He said he had no knowledge of how the victim sustained his injuries.
Magistrate David Day said it was a "stark example of domestic violence," asked if the men's actions were "gratuitous violence or vigilantism" and said the victim was beaten up in a situation "where he cannot defend himself".
Mr Day said if the victim was drink-driving they could have removed the car keys and called the police.
The sentences
Mr Day found the woman's offence proved and ordered her to be of good behaviour for two years without a conviction being recorded. A two-year apprehended violence order was also put in place to protect the victim.
However, Mr Day found the men's offences to be more serious and said they crossed the custodial threshold.
He sentenced both men to seven months in full-time jail with three-month non-parole periods.
Both men were deemed to be of low risk of reoffending and it was their first time in custody.
They will each have to abide by three-year AVOs ordering them not to approach or contact the victim.
A woman in the public gallery wept as the men were handcuffed and the female co-offender said "I'm sorry" as they were led from the courtroom.
The two men were later released on bail after lodging a severity appeal that will be heard in Orange District Court.
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