Accused hotel hammer attacker allegedly left woman with stabs, facial fractures

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions that may distress some readers.

A woman reported she was “scared for her life” after her alleged attacker left her in a Canberra hotel room with facial fractures and covered in stab wounds and bruises.

Officers arrived at the Civic hotel at 4 am on 4 August 2024 after receiving a call from the hotel’s off-duty manager, police say in court documents.

They met an injured woman in the foyer. Medics later reported she had four stab wounds to her legs and hand, facial fractures that needed surgery, rib fractures, as well as cuts and bruises to her face and body. Police originally reported she also had missing teeth.

The woman claimed, “Anything he could have done, he did”.

A man had allegedly stabbed her, assaulted her, attacked her with a hammer and locked her in a hotel room on 3 August before leaving.

The officers went to the hotel room and allegedly found the man had barricaded himself inside a bedroom before asking for a phone to call his mother. He also claimed to have a history of chest pain and heart issues.

After about an hour, and following a negotiation, the man removed the furniture that blocked the door and let police into the room.

Paramedics had to chemically sedate him due to his allegedly aggressive and heightened state.

Officers allegedly saw the room had been extensively damaged, with smashed furniture, blood smeared across the walls, holes in the walls, clothing covered in blood littered across the room and multiple needles on the floor.

The man was charged with intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, unlawful confinement and damaging property. He did not apply for bail when the matter was first heard in the ACT Magistrates Court on 5 August.

The 32-year-old spent about a month in custody before he applied for bail on Friday (6 September), which was opposed by the prosecution.

His defence lawyer, Legal Aid’s Edward Chen, said the woman was no longer in the ACT.

“He’s a stranger to the ACT,” Mr Chen said of his client.

“He’s not associated with any anti-social peers in this particular jurisdiction.”

He could live under very onerous bail conditions in the community, the lawyer argued.

“He will not get very far at all before being detected if there was any attempt to flee,” Mr Chen said.

The prosecutor alleged the man had committed “horrific abuse” and said the woman’s injuries were “abhorrent”.

She said the woman was “scared for her life” and was frightened that the man or his associates would find and kill her.

She also pointed out that the man had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Queensland.

However, Magistrate James Lawton thought there were comprehensive proposed bail conditions that would ameliorate the prosecution’s concerns.

He granted bail with conditions including that the man not contact the woman, not leave the ACT, be supervised by authorities and report to a police station each day.

The matter was adjourned to 8 October.

The man smiled at a woman sitting in the courtroom’s gallery before leaving.

Region has not named the man as his connection to his alleged victim is unclear.