Xiantao Shang leaves the ACT Courts in 2023. Photo: Albert McKnight.
Two alleged home invaders claimed to have been trained by “Chinese special forces” when barging into an apartment and assaulting the married residents, a court has heard.
A judge-alone trial began against 38-year-old Xiantao Shang on Monday (19 May), in which he pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and assault by joint commission.
His co-accused, 46-year-old Wengao Zheng, has pleaded guilty over his involvement, the ACT Supreme Court heard during the lawyers’ opening submissions.
A married man and woman were at their apartment in Belconnen on the evening of 25 June 2023 when the buzzer for their complex’s downstairs door rang.
The woman, who ran a massage business from their apartment, had a booking that night, so she opened the door to let up a person she thought was a customer, the prosecutor said.
But when she opened her front door to let them into the apartment, she allegedly saw two unknown men outside, being Mr Shang and Zheng.
The prosecutor expected the court would hear that the pair allegedly barged into the apartment uninvited and, while speaking Mandarin, demanded to speak to a person whose name the woman didn’t recognise.
It was expected the court would hear that when the woman pulled at Zheng’s clothes, he pushed her roughly into a wall by her head.
The woman allegedly told the men to leave, but they went into the bedroom and continued demanding to see the person they’d asked to speak to.
After the man allegedly told the pair to get out of their home, a scuffle broke out in the hallway in which Zheng and Mr Shang launched a “violent attack”, the prosecutor said.
The pair allegedly told their victims they had been trained by the “Chinese special forces” and kicked and punched them multiple times in their faces and bodies.
Wengao Zheng, pictured in 2023, has already pleaded guilty over his role. Photo: Albert McKnight.
Police arrived to find Mr Shang and Zheng still inside the apartment, while the man and woman had bruises. The man also had a fractured nose.
A search of Zheng located cable ties and duct tape in his pocket.
The officers also spoke to Mr Shang’s wife when she arrived at the scene. She claimed her husband and Zheng had gone to the apartment to speak to a woman who owed them $100,000, the prosecutor said.
James Maher, Mr Shang’s barrister, said the defence case was that his client and Zheng were owed money by a woman who they learned lived at a unit in Belconnen.
He said “a third party” made a massage booking that night on their behalf so they could go to the married couple’s home and speak to this woman without her being alerted they were coming.
Mr Maher said the plan was to go to the apartment and speak to the woman “civilly and politely” about getting their money back.
He said there was no agreement to cause or to threaten to cause harm, while his client didn’t know Zheng was carrying cable ties and duct tape.
The barrister claimed the pair did not barge into the apartment, but were allowed to come inside. Then, after asking for the woman they wanted to speak to, the man in the apartment became “hostile”.
Mr Maher also argued that his client had acted in self-defence and was not responsible for Zheng’s actions.
The judge-alone trial continues before Justice Verity McWilliam.
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