A man who broke his ex-girlfriend's arm before kidnapping and forcing her to use a bucket as a toilet in a NSW south coast caravan park could be out of jail in six months.
The man detained the woman at the Milton tourist haven for about eight days in March 2017 after confiscating her mobile phone, sim card and wallet.
The 39-year-old pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court for taking a person without their consent to intimidate, and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, and asked the judge to take into account another assault.
Judge Clive Jeffreys sentenced the man to a total term in prison of four years after reading out his lengthy and often violent criminal history.
He will be first eligible for parole on February 24, 2022, following his arrest in 2020.
In 2017 the woman rang the man and said she wanted out of their three-year on-again, off-again relationship and would be moving to Queensland.
Her ex-partner said he could hear a male voice and later confronted her at a Nowra methadone clinic where he waited for her outside.
He then drove the pair and their two-year-old child to an isolated and land-cleared area and demanded she get out, and "threatened to drag her out," the court was told.
As the toddler slept he repeatedly berated her as to who she was dating before he twisted her arm backward, shoved her to the ground and pushed her face into the dirt.
Her arm made three popping noises while she felt excruciating pain.
Back inside the car, he then punched the woman in the face and continued to ask who she was seeing before she said a name to prevent further attacks.
As her arm swelled up she could no longer use it but he claimed it was not broken because her fingers were moving.
After driving the fearful woman to her home he told her to "be quiet," and pack up belongings before moving her to the caravan park.
For more than a week he accompanied her everywhere.
This included intermittent visits to a shower block which was a two-minute drive away.
As the caravan had no toilet she was forced to use a bucket instead. While making a sandwich one day she was randomly punched again.
Following several accompanied visits to a methadone clinic, she needed a prescription filled and visited a doctor in Nowra.
While her abuser visited Centrelink she told her treating nurse what had occurred and she was taken to the local police station.
She spent two nights at a refuge in Wollongong with her child before being admitted to a hospital's emergency department where she underwent surgery.
Her arm required screw plates and continues to have a limited range of movement and ongoing pain.
The judge assessed the objective seriousness of the physical harm as below the middle range.
From age four, the offender suffered physical abuse from his drunken stepfather, the court was told.
His alcoholism and daily cannabis use began at 14 before ice and heroin usage led to an unsuccessful rehab attempt at 17.
He has suffered a lifetime of depression and anxiety, and has since sought assistance with his violent ways through Buddhist classes in prison.
The judge found his prospects of rehabilitation were guarded given the long-running criminal history, but would be enhanced with supervision in the community.
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