A violent and drunken man who "belted the living daylights" out of his former girlfriend in contravention of a court order has been jailed for at least three and a half years.
"You inflicted a prolonged and most terrible and terrifying beating upon your victim," Judge Paul Muscat told Apac Garam in the SA District Court.
"Our society and courts will not tolerate such disgraceful violence upon women from drunken men like yourself."
Garam, a 24-year-old Sudanese refugee, was found guilty of aggravated charges of assault causing harm and causing harm with intent to cause harm in suburban Adelaide in 2013.
The judge said his traumatic background, involving war, poverty, violent beliefs, racial discrimination and abuse, affected Garam terribly and "excites much sympathy for your present situation".
"However, what you did to your victim was extremely bad and requires your imprisonment for longer than you have served so far."
The victim, who suffered multiple injuries, was hospitalised for 10 days after she was repeatedly punched and beaten with the broken ends of a broom handle.
"She was battered and bruised all over her body from her face down to her feet," the judge said.
"Not only did you beat senselessly a woman who was unable to defend herself, which of itself is disgraceful and deplorable conduct, but you did so in the face of an order designed to prevent you from doing exactly that."
Garam, who was five when his parents disappeared and were presumed to be murdered, came to Australia in 2008 and has been diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder.
In Sudan, he saw his sister being beaten by her partner and often heard the screams of women being beaten by their male partners.
The judge jailed him for six years, with a non-parole period of three and a half years.
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