Geraldton man ordered to complete 60 hours community service over ‘terrible’ assault on partner

A Geraldton man who punched and kicked the mother of his child in the head while she was lying on the ground has been ordered to complete 60 hours of community service. Braydon McDonald appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to aggravated common assault. The court was told McDonald and his partner of 10 years, with whom he shared a five-year-old child, had been due to attend an appointment at Mission Australia on April 7, but the organisation was forced to reschedule. This frustrated McDonald and he became “verbally aggressive” towards his partner before he threw his frozen Coke at her and started punching her. She tried to get away from the 24-year-old, but he caught up with her near the Murchison Hotel and threw a rock which “narrowly” missed the woman’s head. Prosecutor Sgt Beau Jones said McDonald then pulled the woman to the ground by her hair and started kicking her head. A witness intervened and police were called. Magistrate Angus Hockton told McDonald the incident was a “terrible” assault against “someone you should care about”. “It is a completely inappropriate way for you to behave,” he said. But he accepted McDonald was remorseful and had taken responsibility for his actions. Mr Hockton placed McDonald on a 12-month community-based order, during which he would be required to complete 60 hours of community service.