A Portland man has abandoned an appeal against a jail sentence he received for calling an assault victim from jail and urging her to lie to the police.
The 43-year-old man, who cannot be named because that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court in May to contravening and persistently breaching a family violence intervention order.
A single charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice was withdrawn.
He was jailed for three months.
This week the man appealed against the severity of the sentence, which was heard in the Warrnambool County Court.
He abandoned the appeal after judge Anne Hassan warned he was at risk of a longer jail term.
"This is extremely serious offending by a man with relevant priors," the judge said.
"Quite frankly in my view he is most fortunate to get summary jurisdiction and not be facing the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' jail."
The offender was in custody at Port Phillip Prison in April last year after being remanded on charges of recklessly causing serious injury to his then partner.
The charge related to an incident on February 8 that year when the offender punched the victim to the right eye socket, causing her eyelid and surrounding tissue to swell and close over.
He was later jailed for 17 months with a non-parole of nine months after successfully appealing a sentence of 24 months' jail.
While in custody on remand he rang the victims dozens of times, despite the intervention order prohibiting contact.
He asked her to get him out of jail by lying to police, stating she hit him first and he acted in self defence.
The victim refused.
The man rang the victim on multiple occasions under the name of another inmate.
The charges of charges of breaching the intervention order were laid after the assault matter.
Judge Hassan acknowledged written submissions made by barrister Sally Buckley, which said the man's time in custody for the subsequent offending may have impacted his eligibility for parole.
She said he served up to five months after his earliest parole date.
The man was taken into custody.
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Jessica Howard
Email: jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
Email: jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
