Brutal assault on partner leads to jail

An Albany man who subjected his former partner to “sustained and brutal” assaults where she was punched, kicked and strangled repeatedly could be released in just four months after he was jailed this week.

Tury Jason Tugby, 27, was sentenced to 32 months jail in Albany District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to seven counts of aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm and criminal damage from September last year.

The court was told Tugby had remained in custody since being charged and, with parole eligibility after 16 months, could be released in January, after the sentence was backdated to September 2017.

State prosecutor James Newton-Palmer told the court the victim was repeatedly punched in the stomach and then in the head during an assault in July but could not provide a full statement to police “out of fear”.

She was then repeatedly assaulted two months later at their McKail home on six separate occasions in the early hours of one morning.

After a verbal argument she was kicked in the leg before being grabbed by the throat and pinned on the bed and punched in the chest, which led to her crumpling to the ground.

Tugby then stomped on her, breaking a rib, and punched and kicked her repeatedly as she lied on the floor and screamed at her to “shut the f*** up, stop faking it”.

Mr Newton-Palmer said the victim was then punched in the right eye and struck on the head with her handbag and began to “blackout” when she was lifted off the ground by the throat and pinned to the wall as she attempted to leave.

He said the 24-year-old victim was “covered in bruises from head to toe” and had ongoing spinal problems from the assault which sat at the upper end of the scale of seriousness.

Defence lawyer Richard Hickson said Tugby had not applied for bail since his arrest because he saw it as the best way to cease his methamphetamine use, which was high at the time of the assaults.

He said his client had no history of violence and was now suitable for a conditionally suspended term of imprisonment after spending almost 12 months in jail on remand.

Judge Bruce Goetze said the victim had suffered ongoing emotional and physical pain, and the offences were too serious to warrant a suspended sentence.

“If you had really cared for her you wouldn’t have subjected her to anything like you have,” he said.

Tugby was also issued a lifetime violence restraining order.