Prison for repeat domestic attacker in Qld

A man who kicked his partner in the head with steel-capped boots and caused a forearm bone to break through her skin will be eligible for parole in November next year.

Cairns District Court has been told Calvin William Olbar had a disturbing history of domestic violence spanning almost two decades prior to the assault and had previously stabbed another woman.

The 43-year-old faced sentence on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to a number of offences related to the March attack, including common assault and causing grievous bodily harm.

The court heard he had been drinking for about three hours when he started arguing with his partner at Mossman in Queensland's far north.

He chased the terrified woman to a nearby unit block, knocked her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly to the left side of the head.

She was taken to hospital with a laceration to her forehead and broken bones in her right arm.

Despite the possibility of Olbar earning parole in a years' time, Chief Judge Kerry O'Brien said it would be difficult given his previous convictions for similar offences.

Violence towards women, the judge said, was "cowardly" and "completely unacceptable in any civilised community".

"The courts have said many times ... violence towards women just cannot be tolerated.

"I must punish you and I must make it plain to others who are minded to behave in this way that they can expect severe punishment."

He sentenced him to a maximum five years in jail.