A man has been jailed after assaulting his partner, as well as staff members who came to her assistance, aboard an XPT train that had stopped at Wagga Station earlier this year.
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The Guildford man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared via video link at Wagga Local Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to six offences, including two counts of common assault and behaving offensively in a public place.
The 24-year-old was also charged with the domestic violence-related offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, attempt to stalk/intimidate or intend fear of harm, and contravene apprehended violence order.
Documents tendered to the court state the man was with his partner and three children on the XPT service to Central Station in Sydney on June 4 when he started drinking in violation of an AVO.
Staff asked the offender and his partner to tend to their children, who had became restless and noisy. Instead, the man yelled at his partner to leave them as they "were fine".
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As the train pulled into Wagga Station, the youngest started crying and the mother picked her up to settle her.
The offender slapped the mother across her face and kicked her in the head while the child was still there.
Staff rushed to the scene as the victim was crying, "leave me alone", and the offender stood over yelling at her.
When a female staff member tried to step up and assist one of the children, she was pushed back and told "don't take my son".
Another employee on the train then stood between the offender and his co-worker in an attempt to protect her. He also refused to leave the mother and children, and the offender kicked him. Police were called to the scene and arrested the offender.
On Wednesday, Magistrate Christopher Halburd said the offender had a "short but serious record" and at the time was on a two-year intensive corrections order for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which aggravated the sentence.
"He had the leniency of serving a sentence in the community when he committed these offences," he said. "Really, the only appropriate sentence is jail."
Magistrate Halburd said this was an "egregious example" of domestic violence, and when staff have tried to protect members of the family, they were "assaulted for their trouble".
He accepted the man had a "difficult upbringing", but there was a need for "general and specific deterrence".
The offender was handed a combined sentence of 18 months with a non-parole period of 10 months, backdated to commence on June 4.
He is eligible to be released from April 3, 2022.
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