A WIFE who hit and scratched her husband's face and head during a significant assault has been placed on a good behaviour bond.
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Julie Marie Ryan, also known as Maybury, 57, of Harmony Court, Warrnambool, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to assault and breaching an intervention order.
She was not convicted and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Defence counsel Alex McCulloch said Ryan was under stress at the time of the offending and had experienced grief and pain which was difficult to comprehend.
She said Ryan was a recovering alcoholic but was a low risk of reoffending and had previously been using alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Magistrate Ann McGarvie said Ryan had ongoing issues due to trauma sustained during her life and had taken out her anger on her partner.
She told Ryan turning to alcohol had only made the situation worse and seeking professional help was a far better option.
"I hope this is a wake-up call for you," she said.
Police said that on April 18 Ryan took her partner's sunglasses off his face while he was driving, bent them in half and through them out a car window at Lake Pertobe, causing a scratch near his eye.
He then dropped her off at a hotel early in the afternoon and picked her up at 7.30pm.
She slapped his face and when they got home hit and scratched his face and head during a significant assault.
A couple of days later Ryan was highly verbally abusive to her husband in breach of an intervention order and police were called.