Collie man Daniel Anthony Jones jailed, declared serial offender after punching then-partner and daughter

A 43-year-old Collie man has sobbed and made a vow to be a better father and grandfather as he was handed a jail term for assaulting his long-time partner and his daughter during a heated argument. Daniel Anthony Jones appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court via videolink from Bunbury Regional Prison on Monday where he was sentenced to a 17-month jail term and declared a serial family violence offender for two counts of aggravated unlawful assault occasioning bodily harm. The prosecution application for the declaration was granted unopposed. The court was told Jones walked into the home of his long-time partner in Collie on November 30 last year and got into an argument with her and their 19-year-old daughter in the rear bedroom of the property. During the argument, Jones threw a punch towards his partner’s head which connected with the side of her jaw, causing pain. Jones continued punching the woman several more times, causing a cut to her bottom lip. Jones’ daughter, who was standing behind her mother holding a nine-month old baby at the time, was then hit in the head by Jones, causing a large laceration above her right eye which bled instantly and required stitches. The court was also told Jones’ daughter was pregnant at the time of the assault and neither the nine-month-old nor the unborn baby were harmed during the incident. In a police interview following his arrest, Jones told officers he punched them both only once before leaving the property. In the application to have Jones declared a serial family violence offender, the court was told of two other incidents in which his partner was the victim of assaults perpetrated by him. Jones’ defence counsel Twistie Venning submitted that while a pre-sentence report was “far from favourable” it had taken into account Jones’ actions from many years ago, citing his extensive criminal record. It was also submitted Jones had a difficult upbringing and also struggled with substance abuse but hoped to turn his life around to be a better father and grandfather for his family, which included leaving Collie. Mr Venning also told the court that Jones said he was “getting too old” to stay in the cycle of offending, spending time in custody and being released. As Magistrate Linda Keane made her sentencing remarks, Jones could be seen wiping tears as he quietly sobbed. Ms Keane said she acknowledged his difficult upbringing that “manifested” an extensive and varied criminal history and accepted his genuine demonstration of remorse, but found a tragic irony within the offending. “The terrible irony of this is that you’re now having a similar impact on your family,” she said. “If you want to be the best father and grandfather that you can be, you need to address these issues. “Family violence in any form is unacceptable, it’s abhorrent.” Jones’ jail term was backdated to November 30 and he will be eligible for parole in June.