Jayden Dean Douglas, 23, told his lawyer he did not want to be let out on bail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault and breaching an AVO. 

At first, magistrate Christopher Halburd was reluctant to release Douglas from custody, saying the court needed to send a strong message to the community about domestic violence. 

"Domestic violence is just not tolerated in the community anymore, if it ever was, and certainly there’s been a great hardening of attitudes towards domestic violence over the years, and quite rightly so, in my view,” Mr Halburd said.

"How does the leniency of a suspended sentence send the necessary general deterrence message to your client and the rest of the community that domestic violence just will not be tolerated?" 

However, after taking into account his early plea of guilty and the 40-odd days he had already spent in custody, Mr Halburd released Douglas on a 12-month suspended sentence. 

“Your decision not to apply for bail shows you knew what you did was just inexcusable and you deserved to be sent to jail for that, but also that you needed to address your drug use,” Mr Halburd said. 

"You’re your own jailer now – for the next 12 months, there’s a suspended sentence hanging over your head, so if you commit any other offence or you don’t accept the supervision of Community Corrections, there are very limited options available to the court.”

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