A 50-year-old man who attacked his wife with a machete in Sydney's south-west, leading her to have several fingers and toes amputated, has been sent to jail for nine years.
Atinae Afamiliona struck Tiperia Afamiliona, 45, several times with the 45cm-long knife after she told him she wanted to leave him in August last year.
The mother of three suffered deep cuts to her arms, hands, legs and feet, and had to have digits amputated.
The couple had been arguing in their car and when Afamiliona pulled over his wife tried to hail a taxi.
Afamiliona grabbed a machete he kept with tools in his car and began waving it.
At one point Mrs Afamliona fell to the ground and tried to crawl under the car.
An agreed statement of facts states that during the attack the husband said to his wife, "this is what you want".
Campbelltown District Court Judge Greg Grogin described the victim's ordeal as "ferocious and terrifying".
"It was a brutal, unprovoked, unabated, unrelenting and vicious attack on the victim who at the time was trying to protect herself and trying to escape," he said.
"Violence in a domestic situation is inexcusable."
Judge Grogin said Afamiliona was not drunk or under the influence of drugs, but had told police he "had a black out" and a "dark thing" had blocked his mind.
'I have forgiven Atinae'Before the sentence was handed down, a victim impact statement from Mrs Afamiliona was read to the court.
"My physical injuries were extensive, horrific and very painful, and I suffer from pain consistently to my hands and feet," Mrs Afamiliona said.
"Before this happened I was a very independent woman who never asked for help.
"I see all of my scars every day and that makes me angry because I can't be the mum I was and the mum I want to be."
Mrs Afamiliona said every time she sees her hands everything comes back to her about the attack, but she is trying to move on with her life.
"I have forgiven Atinae for myself, I have forgiven him so I can move forward," she said.
"This does not mean that I still want to be with him and this does not mean what he has done is okay."
After the attack, Afamiliona drove his wife to Campbelltown Hospital and then drove home to wait for police.
She said her injuries meant she could no longer work and had been put under immense financial difficulty as she cared for her three children.
Afamiliona pleaded guilty in March.
He will be eligible for parole after serving six years of his sentence.
This article was written by Mazoe Ford and has been copied from here.
Atinae Afamiliona struck Tiperia Afamiliona, 45, several times with the 45cm-long knife after she told him she wanted to leave him in August last year.
The mother of three suffered deep cuts to her arms, hands, legs and feet, and had to have digits amputated.
The couple had been arguing in their car and when Afamiliona pulled over his wife tried to hail a taxi.
Afamiliona grabbed a machete he kept with tools in his car and began waving it.
At one point Mrs Afamliona fell to the ground and tried to crawl under the car.
An agreed statement of facts states that during the attack the husband said to his wife, "this is what you want".
Campbelltown District Court Judge Greg Grogin described the victim's ordeal as "ferocious and terrifying".
"It was a brutal, unprovoked, unabated, unrelenting and vicious attack on the victim who at the time was trying to protect herself and trying to escape," he said.
"Violence in a domestic situation is inexcusable."
Judge Grogin said Afamiliona was not drunk or under the influence of drugs, but had told police he "had a black out" and a "dark thing" had blocked his mind.
'I have forgiven Atinae'Before the sentence was handed down, a victim impact statement from Mrs Afamiliona was read to the court.
"My physical injuries were extensive, horrific and very painful, and I suffer from pain consistently to my hands and feet," Mrs Afamiliona said.
"Before this happened I was a very independent woman who never asked for help.
"I see all of my scars every day and that makes me angry because I can't be the mum I was and the mum I want to be."
Mrs Afamiliona said every time she sees her hands everything comes back to her about the attack, but she is trying to move on with her life.
"I have forgiven Atinae for myself, I have forgiven him so I can move forward," she said.
"This does not mean that I still want to be with him and this does not mean what he has done is okay."
After the attack, Afamiliona drove his wife to Campbelltown Hospital and then drove home to wait for police.
She said her injuries meant she could no longer work and had been put under immense financial difficulty as she cared for her three children.
Afamiliona pleaded guilty in March.
He will be eligible for parole after serving six years of his sentence.
This article was written by Mazoe Ford and has been copied from here.
