Kupenga’s attack on his partner happened last November. The couple had been in an erratic relationship for about two years and were arguing that evening over a minor matter.
It escalated to Kupenga telling the woman she had a “big mouth”, then taking to her with his fists.
In a daze, helpless on the ground, the woman told him she was sorry and pleaded for him to stop, but Kupenga kept punching her and yelling obscenities.
Her son, afraid of what Kupenga might do next, tried to intervene.
Fortunately he left, but fearing for her life, the woman got in her car and drove to the police station.
Children were also present when Kupenga attacked his ex-partner in a similar incident earlier last year.
The woman was holding her baby and was too scared to put the child down for fear of opening herself up to a physical attack.
She told Kupenga he was scaring her and that she wanted to leave the house, but he wouldn’t let her.
He said she had “the same look in her eye as that bitch had when I punched her up”. He was referring to an earlier assault on another woman for which he had served home detention.
His comment made the woman cry. Kupenga’s response: “Don’t cry, don’t cry, I’ll “f***in’ kill you”.
She tried to get to her car so she could leave but Kupenga threatened to get there first and run her over. When she dared to venture outside again, it was because she thought he had gone. But as she tried to drive off, she realised he was in the car with her. He grabbed her by her hair, thrusting her head forward.
Questioned later by police, Kupenga said he accidentally pulled the woman’s hair while trying to get the keys out of the ignition.
The incident involving his sister dated back to September 2021.
Kupenga was on home detention for his earlier assault on another woman. He woke at about 10.30am to the sound of family members arguing in the kitchen.
His sister was trying to call police about the dispute. Kupenga told her to get off the phone but she ignored him. He slapped and punched her in the face, then threw her across a room with such force she hit her head on a door frame.
When police arrived, they found her with a swollen eye. Kupenga said he had only pushed her.
The three incidents resulted in a raft of charges to which Kupenga pleaded guilty — assault with intent to injure; breach of a protection order; assaulting a person in a family relationship; common assault; speaking threateningly; and breaching home detention.
Determining sentence, Judge Cathcart set a starting point of 15 months imprisonment for the incident in which Kupenga’s partner was knocked unconscious. There was four months uplift for the other offences and further uplifts and discounts for various other factors.
The judge accepted aspects of Kupenga’s background contributed to his offending. Reports showed he had grown up in a household where family violence was normalised.
He also had addiction issues. It warranted two months discount.
There was no discount for remorse. The judge said a letter Kupenga wrote had focused on how his offending impacted the children but lacked any empathy for the women involved.
