A Mandurah man who bludgeoned his wife of 30 years with bolt cutters as she sat on the toilet has been sentenced to six years in jail.
Troy Jay Power pleaded guilty in Western Australia's Supreme Court of committing an act that endangered or was likely to endanger the life, health or safety of Penelope Power on July 3, 2012.
For about two years leading up to the frenzied attack, the couple had become increasingly estranged, living in separate bedrooms in their Dudley Park home, then Ms Power began living elsewhere for most of the week.
Power asked her to call in to discuss their separation and was angry because he believed his wife was seeing someone.
While she was in the toilet, he forced the door open then repeatedly struck her to the head and face with bolt cutters yelling: "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill myself. I'm not going to jail for anyone."
"Your wife believed that she was going to die," Commissioner Kevin Sleight said on Friday.
Ms Power managed to make her way to the bathroom and lounge room where the assault continued, including Power kicking her after he'd pushed her to the ground.
As she lay bleeding and severely injured, he said: "Do you want me to ring an ambulance, or do you want to die?"
She replied, "Can you ring an ambulance?", to which he replied "I will have another beer, and I will think about it."
After grabbing a beer, he called triple 0, spoke to the operator, then threw the telephone at his wife, who claimed she had been attacked by an intruder as she was too scared to say what had really happened.
"The callousness of your attack is not only demonstrated by the injuries you inflicted, but your response immediately after the attack, by the manner in which you offered her assistance," Commissioner Sleight said.
"It is very fortunate that your wife did not die. The use of bolt cutters is an aggravating feature because, potentially, blows to the head using bolt cutters was life threatening."
Power will be eligible for parole after serving four years behind bars.
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