A violent man will have years in jail to contemplate his remorse for an assault where he stomped on a woman’s head.
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Oliver Mohr, 42, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to a person with intent, admitting he punched the Lavington woman and - when she hit the ground - stomped on her face with his foot.
Photos tendered to Albury District Court showed the victim with two heavily swollen and blackened eyes after the assault.
Mohr initially showed little emotion when the confronting images were placed in front of him, but took to the witness stand to express how “horrified” he was with his own actions.
“My sincere apologies, I’m extremely sorry,” he said.
“I feel absolutely terrible about what I did. It’s not in my nature, generally, to be violent and it’s something I never dreamed of doing.”
The accused had consumed about 20 standard drinks on September 2, 2015, with the victim at a friend's house in Klose Street, Lavington about 7pm.
He claimed the victim threatened to kill his friend and he saw red.
“I said ‘that's going to come back on both of us’,” Mohr said.
“I was ranting and raving.”
Judge Chris Hoy questioned why Mohr had not walked away after the punch.
“It's just a horrid crime on a woman,” he said.
The victim had to be flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital the night of the assault to be treated for multiple fractures of her eye sockets, cheek bones and a suspected neck fracture.
Mohr said he did not realise how serious the assault, or stopping the woman from contacting triple zero, was until he was arrested the next day.
Speaking in Albury Local Court last year, magistrate Tony Murray told him “the only thing leaving this short of a charge of murder is that the lady survived”.
The accused said his wife’s battle with mental illness made him scared to confront his own issues with depression and anxiety.
Jail had allowed him to start proper medication and dry out from an alcohol addiction.
“To have a physical addiction to anything, you're forever a slave to it,” Mohr said.
“I'm sorry it's become a waste of the court’s time - I am remorseful and I'd like another chance.”
Barrister Sharyn Hall said her client had been “frank and reasonable” with his apology.
She said the victim was fully recovered from the serious injuries 11 days after the attack.
“The damage that he caused in those two actions was substantial enough, he's fortunate he walked away when he did,” Ms Hall said.
Mohr will be sentenced in court on Wednesday.