A MAN who held his partner against her will for hours, broke her jaw, and stomped on her head - telling her the only way she was leaving his home was if she was dead - has been sentenced to four years and three months in jail.
Judge Deborah Payne told Newcastle District Court on Friday afternoon the actions of Bradley James Robson would have been "terrifying" for the woman.
"This was some mean offending," she told the court as she handed down the sentence.
The court heard that Robson, now 37, had been in a relationship with the woman for about six months when she arrived at his Bar Beach home at about 9am on December 14, 2022, to collect some belongings to take on a trip away.
But Robson had no intention of letting her leave the Light Street property - he jumped on her and pinned her down, before he punched her in the face.
The blows broke both sides of her jaw, according to a statement of agreed facts, and left her needing surgery to insert two plates and 12 screws in her head.
The woman was crying and told Robson she needed to go to the hospital, and tried to escape to the bathroom.
But Robson pulled her to the ground by her hair and stomped on her head.
"You aren't going f---ing anywhere," he told her.
He kept the woman at the home against her will for hours, until they both fell asleep in the evening.
"The only way you're leaving is if you're dead," he said at one stage during the ordeal.
The woman quietly escaped in the early hours of the following morning and made it safely to her father.
Judge Payne said on Friday Robson "certainly isn't a person of prior good character", having previously committed domestic violence offences.
She described the injuries the woman suffered as "horrific".
"This must have been a terrifying incident for the victim," she said.
Robson, who sat in the dock expressionless as the case was dealt with, was given a two-year-and-nine-month non-parole period.
The sentence was backdated to December, 2022, to account for the time he has spent on remand.
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