A 30-year-old has been charged with a range of offences against four women. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT.
UPDATE, 28 January 2022: A 30-year-old already accused of abusing three of his partners has been handed new charges relating to a fourth woman.
These eight new charges allege he assaulted, confined and raped the woman about a decade ago.
On Friday (28 January), his lawyer Sarah Boxall of Boxall Legal told the ACT Magistrates Court he would plead not guilty to all of them and would not apply for bail that day.
Special Magistrate Jane Campbell said his case would be heard in court again in March, but he will also make an application for bail in February.
The fresh charges include sexual intercourse without consent, causing grievous bodily harm and unlawful confinement.
13 January 2022: A man facing more than 20 charges in relation to allegedly physically or sexually abusing three of his partners over 10 years has been denied bail due to concerns his alleged “pattern” of behaviour could endanger others in the community.
Documents tendered when the 30-year-old applied for bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday (12 January) detail the horrific allegations against him.
One allegation describes him chasing the first woman down and pulling her to the ground, where he repeatedly punched her vagina and thighs.
“I hope you can never have children,” he allegedly told her.
Another alleges he pinned her to the ground, put a bath towel over her face, then poured water onto it from a bowl, making the water flow into her mouth so she couldn’t breathe.
He allegedly paused to let her catch her breath before continuing to pour water over her face, only stopping when the bowl was empty.
In a separate alleged incident, he made her lie on a bed and digitally raped her.
When it came to the second woman, he allegedly choked her by crushing her throat with his forearms then slammed her onto the ground.
He is also accused of spitting in her eyes while he was suffering from a cold.
Also, when he and the third woman were walking down the street, he allegedly grabbed and threw her to the ground, where she hit her head and was unable to move for some time.
On Wednesday (12 January), the man applied for bail based on a single charge of assault, as the other charges had been proceeding through the court via summons.
His lawyer, Sarah Boxall of Boxall Legal, argued there was evidence of his good behaviour while in the community.
He hadn’t attempted to flee the Territory or threaten the complainants, she said.
She said the allegations from the first woman were historical and he hadn’t spoken to the second for several years.
Ms Boxall also said he had spent 10 days in custody since he was arrested and, with no criminal history, it had been an “exceptionally eye-opening experience” for him.
But when opposing bail, prosecutor Bwalya Chifuntwe alleged there was a pattern to the man’s offending, starting at the lower end and gradually moving up to a high degree of violence.
He said the first woman alleged he was uncontrollable and dangerous when emotional; the second claimed to know how violent and volatile he could be; the third was afraid of him being released due to the alleged threats he made to her.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said it was difficult to determine the strength of the evidence due to the numerous matters and how some were historical, but what was significant to her was that three different complainants had made the allegations which could be said to contain some similarities.
Her concern was how the court documents described an alleged “pattern” of behaviour and others could become involved with the man.
Magistrate Walker said she was satisfied the endangerment to the community, either the three complainants or any other people, could not be addressed by bail conditions and refused bail.
The man has pleaded not guilty to 24 charges, including two of sexual intercourse without consent, 14 of assault, three choking charges, one of committing an act of indecency without consent and four of damaging property.
His case has been adjourned to March, but Ms Boxall said he would apply for bail again later this month.
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