Brendan Lionel Howe: Remorseless tradie who assaulted his pregnant wife and branded their baby 'that little c*** inside of you' learns his fate

A builder who repeatedly subjected his ex-wife to horrific abuse, including twice while she was pregnant, has narrowly escaped jail. 

Brendan Lionel Howe, 35, has walked from court with a fully suspended seven-month prison term and a one-year good behaviour order, the Canberra Times  reported. 

The victim previously told the court that she lived in fear of her husband for years and that he once referred to their unborn child as 'that little c*** inside of you'.

Justice Louise Taylor said in sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday: 'The community speaks with one voice when it condemns family violence and it laments its pervasive, negative effects,'

Howe, who runs Homes by Howe builders, was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,800 and to do 50 hours of community service.

Justice Taylor said that rather than showing empathy for his ex-wife, Howe felt 'sorry for himself' due to the financial and familial impacts of his offending.

Before his trial was due to start this week, Howe pleaded guilty to aggravated common assault, property damage and two counts of common assault between 2018 and 2022.

'Common to each of these offences is the offender's sense of entitlement born of the power he had over the victim,' Justice Taylor said.

In September 2022, when his wife was 34 weeks pregnant, Howe, who was intoxicated, pushed her against their bedroom door and screamed in her face.

'If you and that little c*** inside of you can't see that I'm the boss and when I wanna f***ing talk about something I'm gonna f***ing talk about (it). 

'And she's gonna know that and you're gonna know that,' Howe roared, while holding his wife by the shoulders, according to the agreed facts in the case.

'I rule the roost of this house. You should worship the f***ing ground I walk on. You're a f***ing bitch. You're a mutt. I'm the boss,' he said.

Howe also threatened to kill his wife if she left him.

'Perpetration of violence, usually by men against their female partners, is a familiar occurrence in this jurisdiction and across the country,' Justice Taylor said.

She said these types of crime's have 'life-altering consequences' and it's rare any sentence imposed by a court in such a case would help victims to simply move on and repair their lives.

The judge said Howe 'demonstrated his physical dominance and capacity to control the victim' with his 'truly awful reference to their unborn child'.

She said Howe's words were 'deliberately demeaning' and showed his 'inflated sense of self-importance over the victim'. 

In her victim's impact statement, Howe's now former wife said she cried for a half hour in a police station car park before going inside to report him, which she said was like 'lighting a match and setting your own life on fire'.

'You watch it burn before your very eyes and all the while you are absolutely terrified of what's to come,' she said in her victim impact statement.

The first assault happened when the victim took one of their dogs away from Howe to stop him squeezing its pimples.

Howe then pushed her against a cabinet and said 'I pay for those dogs, so I'll do whatever I f***ing want'.

In the second assault, in October 2021, Howe screamed 'I'm going to f***ing kill you' at his wife.

The following month, he committed property damage by hitting and denting a kitchen door.

The victim reported Howe to police in November 2022 and he was arrested and spent a night in custody.

She said he 'could go from zero to 100 at the drop of a hat' and said that during the final assault, she wondered 'what if this is the end?'

After the September 2022 attack, she said there wasn't a day that she didn't crumble onto the shower floor in tears and that she was 'completely broken and beyond stressed'.

The judge found that Howe had not shown genuine remorse for his crimes, saying the letter of apology he wrote 'was carefully crafted to avoid direct connection between his violence and the impact of it specifically on the victim'.

In sentencing him, the judge also found that Howe had good prospects for rehabilitation, in part due to his taking part in psychological treatment over the past 18 months and his supporters, some of whom were in the court.

She also said the builder had accepted responsibility by pleading guilty and had followed his strict bail conditions.

Howe first came to the public's attention two years ago when Governor General David Hurley appeared in a video testimonial for his company.

Mr Hurley quickly apologised for the 'mistake', saying the testimonial was done 'on the spur of a happy moment' after Homes by Howe did renovations on his private Canberra residence.

Howe's good behaviour order expires in June 2025, by which time he must have finished his 50 hours of community service.