Bevan Hunt jailed for ‘frightening’ assault on pregnant partner in front of their child in Goldfields town

A man who beat his pregnant partner with a rock and stick in front of their daughter in a drunken rage has expressed his desire to change his life for his kids. Bevan Hunt, 36, pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful assault occasioning bodily harm and giving false personal details in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Thursday, with his lawyer submitting he should be given an opportunity on a community order to help him change his life. The details of his November 1 offending against his pregnant partner were revealed in court, with the prosecution stating the couple were with their children and other family at Malcolm Dam near Leonora when the victim got into a verbal argument with a family member. As she walked off with her daughter, Hunt picked up a rock and hit her in the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground and feel dizzy. As she lay on the ground pleading with him to stop, Hunt picked up a stick and struck her to the head before a witness intervened and the victim escaped. The assault left her with a cut to her head requiring six stitches. Later that night police went to arrest him and he gave them false personal details. Defence lawyer David Pawson said he used an alternative name because his family members were around and he had the same name as another family member who had recently passed, and it would have been culturally inappropriate to speak that name. As for the attack on his pregnant partner, Mr Pawson said Hunt was drunk and and had an issue with his anger when he was intoxicated. He said Hunt “genuinely” wanted help abstaining from alcohol as he had witnessed violence growing up as a child and he wanted to be better for his three children, and the fourth on the way. Prosecuting Sgt Matthew Fullgrabe said Hunt was doing to his children what he himself was a victim of by assaulting their mum in front of them. He said pregnant women were statistically at higher risk of family violence, so police had concerns she was at risk if he was not sent to jail. Pointing to his criminal record, Sgt Fullgrabe said Hunt had a “clear issue with females in his life” and regularly resorted to violence when things did not “go his way”. Mr Pawson said Hunt had not had the opportunity to seek programmatic support in any of his previous sentences. Magistrate Paul Lyons questioned why, if he was genuine about seeking help, Hunt did not reach out to services on his own volition. “He has been jailed and had suspended terms in the past and none of that seems to have provided the wake-up call to him,” he said. “None of that seems to have spurred him to take up programmatic intervention . . . so why now?” Mr Pawson said it being a court-ordered condition would help Hunt ensure he completed it. Mr Lyons said Hunt should have told police about the cultural reasons and said the “frightening” attack on his partner was the sort of thing his daughter should not have had to witness. While he hoped Hunt was genuine about wanting to change, Mr Lyons said he had little confidence in his ability to comply with orders. He sentenced him to 12 months jail, backdated to November 1. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)