Man jailed after punching wall

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A SOUTH Grafton man has been jailed for punching holes in walls at his home after a day spent drinking alcohol.

Jason Andrew Hyde, 38, of McNamara St, faced Grafton Local Court on Monday on a charge of damaging property. This offence put him in breach of a suspended jail sentence.

The police facts say that Hyde drank through the day leading up to the offence and began threatening his partner.

A child in the house dialled the 000 emergency line and police responded to the call.

The argument between the couple began after Hyde tripped over a coffee table and fell on the couple's 20-month-old baby.

Other children in the home became so alarmed at the behaviour they fled to their rooms.

When police entered the house they saw the holes punched in the walls.

“Yeah, I did that,” police recorded Hyde as saying.

Hyde's solicitor, Greg Coombes, said the absence of violence towards people should be considered in the sentence.

Magistrate Kim Pogson said that this was the seventh time that Hyde had appeared on this sort of matter and that because he was in breach of a suspended sentence some jail time was mandatory.

He sentenced Hyde to nine months jail with a three-month non-parole period for the breach of bond and three months jail for the damage property offence.