Man in custody after alleged assault of partner

A 38-year-old Port Hedland man has fronted court after he allegedly assaulted his partner, leaving her with a fractured cheek bone and jaw earlier this month.

Police were called to the incident at Three Mile about 3.30pm on June 2, where it is alleged Richard Binoo Mack assaulted his partner with a chair.

The 36-year-old woman was taken to Hedland Health campus by ambulance and treated for her injuries.

Mr Mack was remanded in custody for the night before being granted bail at his appearance at South Hedland Magistrate’s Court the next morning.

It was one of a number of domestic incidents attended by Port Hedland police that week, with 50 per cent of reports investigated by the district’s officers relating to violence among families and partners.

Port Hedland Police Sergeant Jayd Morawski said the June 2 incident was “significant” and that police faced similar situations to far too regularly.

“There is never an excuse for domestic violence,” he said.

“Domestic violence is a huge problem for police and it’s a big chunk of our resources we spend on dealing with (it).

“It’s a big focus… and we are working very closely with other agencies as well including the Port Hedland Women’s Refuge and Relationships Australia to deal with it.”

Sgt Morawski said the severity of domestic violence cases could vary from verbal arguments to people doing serious physical harm to another person, and said matters often started out quite minor.

However, he said he would prosecute anyone in every instance he could in relation to domestic violence.

“The other thing to bear in mind is they almost always involve alcohol or other intoxicants,” Sgt Morawski said.

The high amount of domestic violence incidents that week follows similar reports from South Hedland police of a surge of incidents in the last week of March with 13 assaults in one week, 10 more than normal.

Mr Mack will appear in court again on July 25, charged with one count of aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm.