A woman's fatal fall from a high-rise balcony can't feature in the sentence of the man who locked her on the hotel terrace, a senior judge has said.
Mother-of-two Jodie Lovell died after falling from a 10th-floor balcony at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sydney's city centre.
She had 20 minutes earlier been locked on the balcony by partner Scott Andrew Minigle, who did so to look through the 45-year-old's phone undisturbed.
Minigle on Thursday learned he would not be jailed for the May 2020 incident and would likely receive a community corrections order with an alcohol condition.
He earlier pleaded guilty to a single domestic violence charge of detaining with intent to obtain an advantage, relating to his phone access.
Justice Sarah Huggett said it would be an error to find the threshold for jail time had been crossed and the "ultimate harm" could not feature in Minigle's penalty.
"I am in no way wishing to minimise the tragedy," the NSW District Court chief judge said.
"But in fact what he is being sentenced for is detaining his female partner on a balcony for 20 minutes.
"She hadn't gone there to seek refuge."
Minigle, 52, was due to be sentenced on Thursday but that was delayed after the court was told of his difficulty with alcohol and accessing rehabilitation services.
Justice Huggett, wanting to impose a good-behaviour bond with "more meaningful" conditions related to alcohol, said it was in the interests of the community that he be provided more time to find a bed in residential rehabilitation.
"I understand that causes further apprehension for everyone in court - I am very aware of that," she said.
"I ... feel that in all the circumstances, a sentence does have to be imposed that does contain conditions that are more meaningful and deal with the issues that arise in this matter in regards to alcohol."
Minigle declined to speak to reporters as he left court.
He is due to be sentenced on April 24, or earlier if he can access a rehab bed before then.
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