A 28-year-old man has been refused bail after allegedly repeatedly assaulting a woman and her dog. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged family violence.
During the almost two days a man is alleged to have spent violently assaulting a woman, he also allegedly held her seven-month-old dachshund puppy by its neck and threatened to throw it off a balcony.
An ACT Policing spokesperson alleged the man started assaulting the woman at her home on Tuesday night (29 July) by slapping her multiple times.
Then, in the early hours of Wednesday morning (30 July), he allegedly grabbed her by her throat and choked her twice.
That same night, he allegedly hit her seven-month-old dachshund, held it by its neck and threatened to kill it by throwing it off the balcony.
The man, a 28-year-old from Taylor who isn’t named to avoid identifying the woman, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday (31 July), where he was handed two counts of assault, two choking-related charges, as well as single counts of damaging property and animal cruelty.
He applied for bail, which was opposed by the prosecution.
His defence lawyer, Ewan Small of Legal Aid, noted that while the allegations were serious, they were alleged to have occurred over a relatively short period of time.
He said there was nothing in the allegations that spoke to a “sustained animus” by his client, a father of one who worked in traffic control, towards the woman.
But Magistrate Jane Campbell said she did not even need to hear prosecutor Liam Taylor’s submissions on why he opposed bail when she refused it.
She said the woman had made an anonymous phone call to police when reporting the allegations because she was concerned about retribution if the man discovered she had contacted them.
Magistrate Campbell said she didn’t think any bail conditions could deter further alleged offending and refused bail.
The matter was adjourned to 22 August. No pleas were entered.
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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