Matthew Davis Armstrong receives community-based order for assaulting his partner and her sister in Albany

A 32-year-old Albany man repeatedly put his hands around his partner’s neck and assaulted her sister when she tried to come to her aid. Matthew Davis Armstrong appeared in Albany Magistrates Court on May 5, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated common assault and one count of common assault. Police prosecutor Sergeant Dave Loverock said Armstrong was with his partner of four years at a home in Gledhow about 5.30pm on December 30 when he became angry because there was no food in the house. The court was told that when his partner decided to leave to get fish and chips, the offender assumed she was trying to take his son away from him. Angered by this, he put his hands around her neck on two occasions, tried to take her mobile phone when she threatened to call police and pushed her on to a mattress on the floor. When his partner’s sister repeatedly tried to intervene, he pushed her away, at one point causing her to fall into a clothes rack. Armstrong’s defence lawyer said his client had been homeless and unemployed for six months before the offences, but now had a full-time job and a positive relationship with the victim. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said the case was the latest example of an offender resorting to violence in the face of something seemingly innocuous. It was lucky that no one was injured, she said. Ms Scaddan told Armstrong that putting his hands around his partner’s neck was a ”controlling and domineering” act. “It is a very dominating and threatening thing to do to somebody to effectively get them to submit to your will,” she said. Armstrong received a 12-month community-based order with counselling requirements.