A man stabbed a woman's phone to stop her "calling for help" during a protracted and "totally unprovoked" assault, a court has found.
"You were out of control," magistrate Jane Campbell told the offender on Tuesday.
Mitchell MacNaughton raised both his hands in the air, smiled, and waved at media cameras after being sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court for multiple violent crimes.
He previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, property damage and hitting an animal.
The 35-year old was sentenced to six months and two weeks in jail, to be suspended from Tuesday, after he had served more than four months in custody.
The incident took place earlier this year, when the "heavily intoxicated" man became "agitated".
MacNaughton was looking for car keys to drive away, demanding them from the victim while being verbally abusive towards her.
The offender threw the woman against a wall, on which she hit her head, before she hid in a room with her dogs.
MacNaughton stabbed the room's door with a knife before entering, smashing a mirror and hitting one of the dogs with a broom.
Ms Campbell said striking animals always "creates a fear in the human victim who is witnessing that".
When the woman tried to leave, the man followed her, took her phone and destroyed it using the knife "to remove her ability to call for help".
The violence continued when MacNaughton, who told police he had drunk 24 cans of beer, pushed the victim to the ground, kicked her in the ribs and held her down.
He again prevented her from leaving by shoving her head first into a garage door, leaving her with multiple facial injuries.
"[The victim] was forced to escape and even then, she continued to be assaulted," the magistrate said.
The woman finally got away and a passer-by took her into their home to call police.
The several violent acts perpetrated by MacNaughton were rolled up into his single assault charge.
Legal Aid lawyer Rhiannon Oats said her client had self-identified as being "very remorseful" for his behaviour.
Ms Oates said the offender's strongest protective factor was his stable employment as a carpenter.
Prosecutor Tahni Whybrow said MacNaughton's criminal history "reflects a history of violence" and the man had not stopped drinking alcohol despite it playing a major role in his offending.
"He's shown limited insight into the impact of his drinking and the risk it poses to others," Ms Whybrow said.
The magistrate said she had received reference letters for the man, one of which described him as a very respectful person.
"Which seems out of sync with the behaviour you exhibited," Ms Campbell said.
MacNaughton was released on the condition he enter into a 12-month good behaviour order.
