Homeless man jailed after ‘hideous’ assault on woman who refused request for sex left with extensive injuries

A 53-year-old man left an Albany woman with three broken ribs, a collapsed lung, cuts and bruises after she offered him a place to stay. Darryl John Spooner appeared in Albany Magistrate’s Court last Thursday after pleading guilty to assaulting the woman in her Orana home on July 9. Police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Russell told the court that Spooner was homeless when the 58-year-old woman offered him a place to stay. Sgt Russell said the man asked her for sex but was refused. “Angry, the accused has grabbed her throat and started hitting her on the sides (of her body),” Sgt Russell said. Spooner punched the woman before picking up a stereo and throwing it through a bedroom window, Sgt Russell told the court. He then dragged the woman into the lounge room and continued the assault. The victim tried to call police but Spooner grabbed the phone out of her hand and threw it, also throwing a cup which smashed through the lounge room window. When she tried to leave, he pulled her away from the door. Spooner was arrested and found to be heavily intoxicated. Defence counsel Wendy Stewart said despite her client not recalling the event, he accepted the facts. “Mr Spooner accepts he was responsible and expressed great sorrow for the victim,” she said. “She was helping out as he was homeless at the time and offered a place for him to stay.” She said a brain injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in 2006 left her client unable to tolerate alcohol consumption. Ms Stewart said the July offence breached a 24-month conditional suspended prison order Spooner was placed on because of a similar offence. Magistrate Raelene Johnston said the man’s display of “rage” was “gravely concerning”. Spooner was sentenced to 17 months behind bars, back-dated to July 23.