A 33-year-old man was granted bail after his lawyers raised issues with the case against him. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged family violence.
Over four years, a man is alleged to have repeatedly assaulted his partner, including when she was pregnant, and treated her in a way that showed his “utter contempt” for her.
The allegations apparently resulted in police using explosives to storm the man’s home where they pointed automatic weapons at him and his mother before leaving him in the street in his underwear – actions his barrister has described as “deplorable”.
ACT Policing allege the man repeatedly physically assaulted the woman, in addition to strangling and threatening to kill her, between 2022 and 2025. She was pregnant during two of the alleged assaults.
The ACT Magistrates Court heard he allegedly filmed her showering, kicked her in the face, spat at her, smashed their child’s toys, hit her in the face with a glass mug and threw a television remote at her.
Photos showed significant bruising to the woman’s wrist after one incident in which she alleged she felt like he was going to snap her arm.
Police raided the man’s home on 17 October where they allegedly found a knife, a taser and fireworks.
But barrister Anthony Williamson SC, writing in court documents, said during this raid, a tactical police unit used explosives to force their way into the home, pointed automatic weapons at the man and his mother, then marched him down the street in his underwear before leaving him in the gutter for an hour.
He said that as the most recent offence was alleged to have occurred over a month before the raid, police were acting on “stale” information.
“[The] conduct of police appears to be deplorable,” said Mr Williamson, who represents the man.
“The violent 3 am entry into his mother’s premises, with automatic firearms being pointed at unarmed civilians by AFP members dressed in paramilitary uniforms, is a matter of deep concern.”
The 33-year-old man, who is not named to protect the woman’s identity, stayed in custody after the raid before applying for bail on Wednesday (29 October).
During the application, Magistrate James Stewart also questioned the actions of police when serving the search warrant at the man’s home.
“It was an extraordinary display of force for little reason,” he said.
The prosecutor said the allegations outlined a history of coercive control and aggression by the man against the woman, and she played several recordings of their interactions.
In a video, he allegedly pushed her over before the footage showed her falling to the ground and crying.
In an audio recording, the man can be heard saying, “You’re a f-ing joke” and “I’ll f-k you up” to the woman, then in another, she can be heard telling him to stop saying her grandfather was a pedophile in front of their two-year-old child.
“You’re grandfather’s a pedophile, it’s true. I’ll tell everyone,” the man says. He later yells, “Shut the f-k up, b-h”.
The prosecutor said the allegations and the recordings showed the man’s “utter contempt of the complainant”.
The prosecutor said the woman had serious concerns for her safety and the safety of her child if the man was granted bail.
But Mr Williamson questioned the woman’s credibility and the preparedness of police to accept everything she claimed.
For instance, he said the woman alleged that one assault occurred in their driveway after they returned from a night out. But text messages showed his client wasn’t home at that time.
“It can’t have happened at all that evening,” Mr Williamson said.
The man had to prove special or exceptional circumstances existed in his case to apply for bail as he had been charged with possessing what were alleged to be a taser, knife and fireworks – in addition to an offensive text message – after he was charged with the alleged assaults.
Magistrate Stewart said some of the recent charges were not provable on the current allegations. He said it was exceptional to reach this conclusion, but it was also exceptional that some of the charges had been laid, given that what was alleged in court documents was all the information police had.
He also said the man had been working in the community after he was bailed for the alleged assaults and, in his view, no more offences had been committed since then.
Bail was granted again on the same conditions, and the matter was adjourned to November.
The man, who has entered pleas of not guilty, faces nine counts of assault and two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon. He was also charged with single counts of choking, possessing a prohibited substance, using a carriage service to threaten, damaging property and threatening to kill a person.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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