James Marcus Cooper Treacy: Narrogin man jailed for a string of assaults against partner and VRO breach

A Narrogin man who repeatedly assaulted his partner — including punching her when she asked him to stop eating her children’s snacks — and “persistently” asked her to drop a restraining order has been jailed. James Marcus Cooper Treacy appeared via video link in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with a string of unlawful assaults that occasioned bodily harm, two counts of breaching protective bail conditions, and breaching a family violence restraining order. The 25-year-old has been remanded in Casuarina Prison since his arrest on March 24. Treacy was at the home of his partner with her two children, a five-year-old and a three-year-old, on March 8 when she asked him to stop eating the children’s snacks. In response, Treacy punched her hard in the chest, threw bags of shopping at her, hit her with a can of fly spray, and chased her around the house while one of the children hid under a table. Treacy then struck her across the face, causing her dizziness pain and in her eye. Treacy was arrested but released on bail on March 14 — on the condition he would not contact the victim — and was served with a family violence restraining order. He breached those conditions on March 21 and 22 by sending her a message requesting that she drop the VRO and asking a friend to do the same on his behalf, saying “I want to see if you’ll ask her nicely” and “hopefully they don’t listen to this phone call and give me another charge”. On March 23, Treacy violently assaulted the victim again and the neighbours, hearing a loud argument, called police, who arrived to find Treacy hiding in a wardrobe. Defence lawyer Michael Devlin said Treacy had only a minor record and committed “serious offending over a concentrated period of time”. Despite a pre-sentence report recommending a suspended imprisonment order, Magistrate Erin O’Donnell said it would not be “appropriate” as the offence was “so serious”. “There was a persistent case of offensive conduct followed by a relatively persistent effort to persuade the protected person to have the family violence restraining order cancelled,” she said. “Family violence is always serious and should be dealt with as such.” Treacy was sentenced to one year and three months jail, backdated to March 24, with eligibility for parole. If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.