A serial family violence abuser begged the woman he suffocated unconscious to "please breathe" before assaulting her again after she awoke.
"It was an act, as the prosecution submitted, that constitutes 'an extreme display of power of one person over another and is designed to subdue, control and terrify'," Acting Justice Rebecca Christensen said.
The man's lengthy criminal history includes multiple family violence convictions for assault, stalking, using a carriage service to harass and contravening a protection order.
"[The offender's] criminal history indicates that he has been engaging in family violence offending for 19 years against various victims," the judge said.
He was 39 years old at the time of this particular assault.
Agreed facts of the case set out in an ACT Supreme Court judgment published on Wednesday detail the protracted and terrifying attack at the woman's Canberra home.
She was, at the time, protected by a NSW provisional apprehended domestic violence order.
In mid-2023, the man was staying with the victim when he woke her up in the middle of the night and began shouting at her about the temperature.
When she left the room, he followed her and eventually pushed the victim head first into a wall.
When the woman asked him to leave, the man continued verbally abusing her. He took her phone and tackled her to the floor when she threatened to call police.
The abuser pushed his partner's face into the carpet and pressed his weight on top of her, causing her to lose consciousness.
When the victim eventually awoke, the man was shaking her and saying words to the effect of: "Please breathe, baby. I love you. I'm sorry, please breathe."
In an ensuing tussle for the woman's phone, the attacker shoved her and shook her to get the device back.
He also covered the victim's mouth to prevent her from screaming as he pulled her back inside the home to stop her from escaping.
The man had initially sought a drug and alcohol treatment order after admitting to charges of suffocating a person so as to render them unconscious, assault and contravening a family violence order.
But he was found ineligible for the community-based, rehabilitation-focused sentence and was instead handed a more than four-year prison term.
Acting Justice Christensen set a two-year-and-five-month non-parole period.
The judge said a level of leniency in the non-parole period was appropriate to reflect a reduction in moral culpability, having regard to the man's early childhood years.
"In which the exposure to domestic violence has seemingly had a role in informing his adult behaviour and to reflect his early introduction to substances," she said.
The offender told a report author he was not proud of his behaviour but appeared to limit his insight to his drug addiction and its effects.
"[The man's] remorse can be described as understated and lacking in a depth of insight into the causes for his repeated and, on this occasion, escalated family violence offending," the judge said.
Factoring in time already spent behind bars, the serial perpetrator will be eligible for parole in December 2025.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732; ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service 6280 0900.
