A WOMAN punched 15 times in the face by her partner two years ago could have lost her right eye if a Mount Isa Hospital nurse had not cut a muscle to relieve the tension.
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But court evidence said all the woman’s bones to the right-hand side of her face have been replaced with titanium plates, as well as a mesh to hold the eyeball in place.
Gavin Lee Smith, the man who caused these injuries, filed a submission in the Court of Appeal on the grounds his seven year jail term for grievous bodily harm was too harsh.
Smith said there were inconsistencies between the victim impact statement and the medical information, as well as the judge leaning too much on his criminal history when determining the sentence in the Mount Isa District Court on April 27, 2015.
She is unable to run any more. She is unable to ride motorbikes any more, as the jarring causes pain. She's unable to play any sport any more."
- Sentencing judge
He would be eligible to apply for parole on October, 26, 2017 – two and a half years after the court sentence was given.
Last Friday his appeal was rejected by Judge Robert Gotterson, who said no inconsistencies had been challenged in the court and that the sentencing judge had the right to rely on previous criminal offences.
Smith was 44 when he beat up his 33-year-old partner after an argument started over her mobile phone.
She was beaten in front of her child but could not remember the attack. Her next memory after the argument was being in the hospital having an eye muscle cut.
“Her next memory was waking up with her father crying at her bedside,” the sentencing judge said.
The victim’s bones in the right-hand side of her face had to be replaced with titanium plates, and she has no feeling along her nose and the left hand side of her mouth. “She is unable to run any more,” the sentencing judge said. “She is unable to ride motorbikes any more, as the jarring causes pain. She’s unable to play any sport any more.”