Joseph Doolan jailed for assault on woman in Orange motel room

Joseph Paul Doolan, 42, of Front Street, Cowra, had been staying at the Mid City Motor Lodge on January 18. At 8.20am he got into an argument with the woman while she was in the shower.

He then approached her while she was still in the bathroom and hit her on the back and left shoulder.

The woman tried to protect herself and hid her head in her hands and curled her body into a ball on the floor.

However, Doolan kicked her between the legs from behind while she was on the floor.

He continued to yell and hit her in the bedroom and as soon as he left the woman packed her belongings and waited for the police inside the motel's office.

Police said the woman was crying and shaking and she had bruises and redness on her right forearm and on her left side.

Solicitor Lucien Gration said there was a lot going on in Doolan's life at the time, he was homeless and had relapsed into drug use.

Mr Gration said Doolan started using drugs when he was 12, grew up witnessing violence in the community he lived in, and he had issues with impulsivity and anger.

However, Mr Gration also said Doolan had a period on bail without offending in a similar way.

"In terms of his record it's of little assistance to him, he has been in full-time imprisonment," Mr Gration said in court.

Magistrate David Day described the assault on the woman as "vicious".

Mr Day said the assault was also the most serious of several offences, and he gave Doolan an 18-month jail sentence with a nine-month non-parole period and took into account a need for community-based drug rehabilitation.

"The assault upon the lady is aggravated by his bad record for violence," Mr Day said.

"She was essentially defenseless on the floor and he kicked her."

Mr Day also sentenced Doolan to six month's jail for failing to appear in Orange Local Court on June 30.

Mr Gration said one of Doolan's close relatives had died at Cowra and he had a ride to come to Orange but it fell through, however Mr Day said he received a letter saying Doolan "just forgot".

He also disqualified Doolan from obtaining a driver's licence for nine-month and he sentenced him to six months' full-time jail for driving while disqualified in South Bathurst on July 13.

Mr Day said he had seven or eight prior driving offences.

Mr Day gave Doolan an identical sentence for driving while disqualified in Vaux Street, Cowra, on March 21.

On March 2, police saw Doolan in with the protected person from an Apprehended Violence Order.

Police came across them in Kelso at 5pm but clicked on the wrong Joseph Doolan during a check.

They later discovered the AVO and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest the day before after he failed to appear in Bathurst Local Court. Doolan was arrested at 10.20pm that night.

Mr Day gave him a two-year Community Correction Order for conravening the AVO and a six-month jail term for failing to appear in court. Doolan will appeal the severity of the concurrent jail sentences in the District Court.

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