'Brutal and cowardly': Man who shot girlfriend after TV failed to work is jailed

A Melbourne ice addict who beat his girlfriend with a shotgun then shot her in the leg when he could not get his new television to work, has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

Paul Bazouni, 38, was high on ice and on bail for other crimes when he locked his girlfriend in his bedroom and bit her on the cheek, telling her it was the “kiss of death”.

On May 29, 2015, the woman was struck on the head with the gun, then shot in the leg, inside the bedroom where Bazouni lived in a flat at the back of his father's Northcote fruit shop.

The offender then dragged the woman out of the room and dumped the gun.

He accused the woman of changing the settings on his new television and stealing information from his father's business.

Bazouni was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday for intentionally causing injury, possessing a prohibited weapon and breaching his bail conditions.

"Your offending was brutal and cowardly, and carried out in anger," Judge Douglas told him at the sentencing.

In the days leading to the attack, the woman agreed to move back in with Bazouni, after he continued to harass her family to try and get in touch with the woman.

After arriving at his flat, Bazouni prevented her from leaving, and took away the woman's mobile phone.

Bazouni handed himself in following the attack after the 23-year-old woman was found bleeding from a gunshot wound and had facial injuries.

Paramedics found the victim around 4am in a bedroom of the flat at the rear of Joe's Organic Market in Northcote.

The woman underwent surgery in Royal Melbourne hospital as a result to the injuries, and remained hospitalised for more than two months after the attack, the Herald Sun reported.

After six operations, the victim is yet to fully recover and must use a colostomy bag.

Bazouni and the woman met only a few months before the shooting, and lived together briefly until the victim moved out when she began to fear for her safety.

In court in October, Bazouni pleaded not guilty to intentionally causing serious injury, as he claimed it was an accident.

He however pleaded guilty to breaching his bail conditions, as he was on bail at the time of the shooting, and had been out of jail for less than six months for other violent crimes.

Bazouni's attorney Terry Strong told a plea hearing his client was paranoid at the time of the incident and purchased the gun because he thought people were out to get him.

“He made numerous complaints to police. Police did not take him seriously,” he said.

Prosecutor Shaun Ginsbourg told the court the attack had affected the victim deeply physically and mentally.

"The assault was unprovoked, the victim was defenceless on the ground, in a confined space, when she was shot," he said.

"The injuries have profoundly affected the victim, both physically and psychologically."

While the judge conceded Bazouni did have an intellectual disability, she jailed him for 10 years.

He will be eligible for parole after serving seven years.

If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual or domestic abuse, don't suffer in silence, call the National sexual assault helpline1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732 any time of day or night.'

News break – November 08