A man obsessed with ‘torture porn’ has been jailed for bashing a sex worker with a hammer during a brutal attack on a luxury hotel.
Matthew Donaldson, 44, was sentenced to nine years in prison in the NSW District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
He kept an expressionless face and kept his eyes downcast behind thick black-rimmed glasses as he was jailed over the brutal attack on February 23, 2021.
In the weeks leading up to the attack, the court heard that the 44-year-old had been viewing increasing amounts of sadistic pornography.
The court heard video game addict Matthew Shane Donaldson had a gun with him when he bludgeoned a sex worker with a hammer during a brutal attack on a luxury hotel
Matthew Shane Donaldson packed a ‘torture porn package’ before attacking the woman with a hammer
He planned to simulate some of the extreme sexual interactions with the sex worker and packed a “torture porn kit” containing ball gags, rope, duct tape and lube.
According to the agreed facts, Donaldson also had a gun, a knife and the hammer with him when he checked into the former Primus Hotel on Pitt Street.
He had bought the hammer at Bunnings earlier that afternoon and read numerous articles about murders, including a news article about a murdered sex worker.
The video game fan met the sex worker at the hotel bar after 8pm and they went to his five-star hotel room.
The court heard he used a knife to cut the woman’s underpants for what would be his first ever sexual experience, and she felt uncomfortable.
When the pair became involved in a heated argument about the ethics of sex work, the 44-year-old repeatedly hit the sex worker on the head with the hammer.
Judge Antony Townsend said the victim suffered a ‘frenzied and brutal attack’ which left her with permanent brain and facial injuries.
“The injuries could have resulted in death,” he said.
Donaldson left the 26-year-old woman in a pool of her own blood with multiple fractures to her skull, cheek and eye socket as he fled the scene.
She spent three months in the hospital and needed reconstructive surgery to rebuild her skull. Her eyesight will be permanently damaged.
As she lay bleeding, her attacker sent her a cruel, taunting text message that read: “Should have chosen a different career, honey.”
Judge Townsend noted that the 44-year-old Virgin had become “unhappy with the way his life has developed” in the years leading up to the unprovoked attack.
In particular, the court was told he criticized his ‘lack of ability to maintain a long-term intimate relationship’.
The victim spent two weeks in intensive care and has persistent cognitive problems as a result of the attack
Matthew Donaldson, 44, was sentenced to nine years in prison in the NSW District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
Donaldson told police he planned to spend all his remaining money “living it up” at the luxury hotel and indulging his sadistic fantasies with escorts before killing himself.
As he fled the scene, he shared two photos from the hotel room with the caption, “Game over.” A friend asked what video game he had been playing.
‘Life or death. I lost,” the 44-year-old replied.
He told police he “heard voices telling him to do this” during the bloody attack, which was attributed to his untreated schizophrenia.
“I am satisfied that his mental illness distorted his thought process and that the crime occurred within the context of the perpetrator’s delusional system,” Judge Townsend said.
He determined that the diagnoses of schizophrenia and autism reduced Donaldson’s moral culpability and warranted a longer period of non-parole.
The judge noted that the 44-year-old had shown remorse for the brutal attack and had no previous criminal record.
Donaldson also pleaded guilty to possession of a loaded firearm in a public place and possession of a prohibited weapon without a licence, which were included in his sentence.
Judge Townsend sentenced him to a total of nine years behind bars, with a non-parole period of six years.
He will be eligible for release on February 24, 2027.