STATE OF TASMANIA v BRAEDON LEIGH NUGENT 19 AUGUST 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Braedon Leigh Nugent, you have pleaded guilty to the crime of persistent family violence. I am also dealing with the related summary offence of destroy property. You and the complainant were in a relationship for approximately seven years, between 2017 and July 2024. During that period, you lived together but did not have any children together. You were aged 19 to 24 during the relationship and the complainant was aged between 20 and 25.
From about 2020, your behaviour in the relationship became abusive and controlling. This coincided with you developing a methyl amphetamine habit. You would regularly assault the complainant when you were under the influence of methyl amphetamine, or when you did not get your own way. The complainant reports there were numerous occasions on which you punched or kicked her, and on occasions when your anger was particularly intense, you would strangle her. Given the repeated and similar nature of your violence, the complainant can only recall some occasions with specificity. In addition to the violence, the complainant reports that from about 2020 onwards, you became financially controlling including by manipulating her into providing you with money from her own savings, or encouraging her to take out loans in her name but provide you with the money. On occasions, you would threaten her by suggesting some of your drug associates would “shoot up the house” if she did not assist you in obtaining funds.
Your behaviour was not only physically harmful, but it was verbally abusive and degrading. A number of videos recorded by the complainant depict you making threats to her and being generally abusive, as well as calling her demeaning names like “fat fucking whore”. The worst of the conduct occurred from about October 2023 onwards, after you and the complainant had moved into a unit at Latrobe, and the specified occasions relied upon by the State in prosecuting this matter occurred in the last few months of the relationship. I sentence on the basis that the specified occasions occurred in the context of ongoing verbal, physical and emotional abuse and the identified occasions typify the type of conduct you displayed towards the complainant during the indictment period, that is January 2020 until 25 July 2024.
On 23 April 2024, you arrived home from work. You wanted to leave immediately to travel to Deloraine. The complainant wanted to make some food before departure. You became angry and started damaging décor and appliances within the unit, including putting the sandwich press onto the floor and stomping on it, thereby destroying it. This constitutes the offence of destroy property. You became increasingly aggressive and started to hit the cupboards in the kitchen. At one point, you retrieved a home-made bat, made from a bed leg, and told the complainant that you would hit her if she did not “shut the fuck up”. You then used the bat to hit the complainant to the shoulder. It must have been a hard blow because the bat broke in half. The complainant was left with bruising and a red mark to her shoulder.
The two of you travelled in the car to Deloraine. You were angry throughout the drive. You were shouting at the complainant and calling her names, such as “fucking dumb slut” and “fucking dog cunt”. You told her that you were going to “kill us all”. You also told her that you hated her and that she would be “fucking dead tomorrow cunt”. Part of your behaviour were recorded by the complainant on her phone. As the complainant was driving past Kart Magic in Latrobe, you spat in her face. Shortly after, when you were near Elizabeth Town, you spat in her face for a second time. You also pulled the complainant’s hair, forcing her head backwards.
Upon reaching Deloraine, the complainant dropped you at a friend’s house and returned to Latrobe. At about 10pm that night, she returned to Deloraine to collect you. As the complainant was driving back towards Latrobe, you were seated in the rear passenger seat. You were arguing. The complainant told you she wanted you to pack your things when you returned home. You responded by punching the complainant to the left side of her face and kicking her to the arms and face. You pulled her hair back and punched her multiple times to the head and ears. At one point, you pulled the complainant’s seatbelt tight against her throat and held it there, telling her to “shut the fuck up”. All of this happened whilst she was driving. It is, quite frankly, extraordinary that the complainant was able to keep the vehicle travelling on the roadway and there was not a serious accident as a consequence of your violence.
Shortly after this, you fell asleep and the complainant was able to return home without further incident. These assaults left the complainant with bruising to her ears, left eye and she also had bleeding to the inside of her lip. She took photographs of the injuries on her phone. The following day she told a work colleague what had occurred and further photographs of her injuries were taken.
On 25 June 2024, you and the complainant were at your unit. Again, there was an argument, and you became aggressive. The complainant felt unsafe and decided to leave. When she endeavoured to do so, you pulled her back inside the house and threw her to the floor. You then grabbed her by the throat, using both hands, and lifted her body off the floor, by the neck, applying pressure to her windpipe. The complainant could not breathe and started to lose consciousness. She believed she might die. Eventually, you released your grip on her neck, and she was able to leave the house. As a consequence of the strangulation, the complainant had bruises around her throat and was also bruised to her left knee, left arm, behind her ears and to the left side of her face. Again, she took photographs of her injuries on her phone.
In July 2024, the complainant told her parents what had been happening within the relationship and made arrangements to leave and move in with them. She told you the relationship was over. You responded by damaging the unit in Latrobe and threatening the complainant by saying to her, “you will be sorry”.
In November 2024, the complainant reported matters to police. You attended the police station on 21 November 2024 and participated in a record of interview. You told police that you had been “a drug addict behind closed doors for four years”. You claimed that when affected by drugs, you would do things that were “not me”. You claimed to have little memory of many of the incidents that had occurred but also told police that what the complainant had reported was “probably true”. You said that you were not going to say that you did not do it because that would be selfish. You said that whilst you did not remember many of the individual assaults, you “know I did it”. You told police that you hated yourself for what you did to the complainant and that she did not deserve it.
The complainant suffered several injuries as a consequence of your violence. As I have noted, she was often left with considerable bruising, cuts and general soreness. I have also received an impact statement from her, which sets out the significant and ongoing psychological and emotional impact your conduct has had upon her. Even now, she continues to experience nightmares, intrusive memories and flashbacks. She is constantly anxious and hyper vigilant. Her new relationship has been effected by the trauma she experienced at your hands. In simple terms, the complainant continues to carry the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of your abuse and it is likely those consequences will remain with her for a very long time.
You are 26 years of age. You have no relevant prior convictions. Your criminal history consists of some traffic matters, some offences contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act, and bail offences. You have a strong employment history. You have spent considerable time working as a tiler and despite the development of a drug addiction, you were able to maintain that employment and do well in it. I am told that towards the end of the relationship, your use of methyl amphetamine had become quite chronic. Whilst you do not remember much of what has been alleged against you, you accept you did it and you acknowledge that your behaviour towards the complainant was appalling. After being interviewed by police, you spent two days in custody. This was a wakeup call for you. After your release, you relocated to Hobart and pursued employment. In order to maintain that employment, you needed to cease the use of illicit substances, and you did so. I am told you have not used drugs for nearly 18 months now.
I take into account your plea of guilty. It counts in your favour, particularly because the complainant has been saved the ordeal of having to relive the trauma of the relationship by way of giving evidence. It also vindicates the complainant, as although you claim to not remember all the details, you accept the complainant’s veracity and what she said occurred.
The family violence you perpetrated was very serious. It occurred over a four-year period, and towards the end of the relationship it became particularly grave. Whilst all the occasions of violence were serious, the occasions where you applied pressure to the throat of the complainant and attacked her whilst she was driving, were particularly so. Acts of this nature are inherently dangerous and can easily result in serious injury or death, particularly when committed by a person in a state of high emotion or anger, and who is impacted by illicit substances, and thereby unable to judge or moderate the force being applied. I assess you were in such a position. I add the act of spitting on the complainant was vile and degrading.
Family violence is a matter of great concern, to not only the Court but the community at large. Whilst all acts of violence are to be condemned, the repetitive nature of acts of family violence cause particular harm which impacts victims in the long term, and often leads to permanent, adverse consequence. Moreover, its insidious and controlling nature often results in it being hidden within the relationship, unnoticed by those external to the relationship, with the perpetrator presenting to others as a caring partner, leaving the victim experiencing self-doubt and insecurity. This is exactly what occurred here. For many years, the complainant was reluctant to disclose what you were doing to her and thereby endured further trauma. Family violence is simply unacceptable, and it must be denounced and punished by the Court. General deterrence and denunciation are primary sentencing considerations.
As noted, I take into account your plea of guilty. It is appropriate to allow for a reduction in sentence and the earliest eligibility for parole to reflect your plea. But for the plea of guilty, your sentence would have been in excess of four years.
I make the following orders. Braedon Leigh Nugent, you are convicted of all crimes and offences to which you have pleaded guilty. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three years and six months from 7 August 2026. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served one half of that sentence of imprisonment. Pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act, I direct that the crime of persistent family violence and the offence of destroy property be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence. I am not satisfied it is appropriate to make a serial family violence offender declaration, given the factors set out in s 29A(3) of the Family Violence Act, in particular, your antecedents which are free from any prior family violence offending. I make a family violence order pursuant to s 36 of the Family Violence Act, for a period of six years from today. It will be in the same terms as the interim family violence order made on 3 July 2026.