A woman has recounted how a devoted relationship to her partner grew more and more dangerous until he tried to run her down with his car as she stood in a Sydney McDonald's.
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Reading out her victim impact statement during a sentence hearing for Abbas Hayder Al-Khafaji on Thursday, the woman who cannot be legally named said she wholeheartedly threw herself into the relationship with her partner.
Originally sticking by Al-Khafaji despite his recreational cannabis use in the hope he would stop, she said that through the seven-year relationship he eventually became possessive, paranoid and sometimes aggressive towards her.
"Leaving this relationship was not going to be without explosive repercussions," she told Campbelltown District Court.
Feeling "emotionally manipulated" into sticking around because the 27-year-old would resort to drug use and self-harm when she mentioned breaking up, the woman eventually worked up the courage to leave.
In the aftermath of this, Al-Khafaji then drove his car at the woman while she was standing in the doorway of the Narallen McDonald's on February 22 last year.
"Time and longevity in this relationship has proven to me that Abbas is relentless in pursuing what and who he wants," the woman said.
At times in court she expressed concern for her ex-partner, but acknowledged the negative impacts the attack had had on her own mental wealth and family relationships as well as her professional life as owner of a small business.
The Oran Park man, who has been in custody for around 12 months, has pleaded guilty to using an offensive weapon with an intent to commit an indictable offence, destroying or damaging property worth between $5000 and $15,000, and contravening the conditions of an AVO.
He has also asked the court to consider a guilty plea to one count of resisting a police officer when his sentence is determined.
CCTV footage played in court showed the vehicle ploughing through the front of the McDonald's and ending up smashing into tables inside.
While the victim flees to the kitchen, Al-Khafaji grabs a knife from his car, following her. He confronts her multiple times, waving his arms at her, and threatens an employee, pacing angrily around the store before leaving on foot.
"F*** you ... I'm going to kill you," he is alleged to have said to the victim.
He later returned for the car, struggling to reverse it out of the restaurant before driving off.
During a phone call made while in prison and in breach of an AVO against him, Al-Khafaji sought to tempt the victim back because of the assault.
"Weren't you happy I did that because it shows I'm serious about you?" he told her.
Judge Tanya Smith heard that Al-Khafaji had been diagnosed with psychosis in 2019 and had been medicating using slow-release depot injections. He had stopped using marijuana, acknowledging that it induced psychotic symptoms when he smoked it.
In November 2021, he was weaned from the injections onto oral medications. However before the attack, he stopped taking the oral drugs and started "self-medicating" with marijuana again.
Defence solicitor Wayne Condon argued that his client was not in control of his actions during the attack, saying that he had started hearing "voices" and thought something was trying to control him through his Playstation.
Mr Condon urged the court to impose a longer non-parole period so his client could be integrated slowly into society under supervision.
Crown prosecutors said the Oran Park man had shown no signs of remorse and had misled doctors about whether he was taking his anti-psychosis medicine, denying them the chance to treat him.
Judge Smith will deliver her judgment on May 12.
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Australian Associated Press
