A LAKE Macquarie man accused of repeatedly raping and assaulting a young woman, including stomping on her head and threatening her with a loaded firearm in what detectives allege is an extreme case of domestic violence has pleaded not guilty and will face a trial next year.
The 24-year-old, who the Newcastle Herald has chosen not to name to avoid identifying the alleged victim, appeared in Newcastle District Court last week where he pleaded not guilty to 19 charges, including six counts of sexual intercourse without consent, kidnapping, multiple assaults and firearm offences.
He will face an estimated one-week trial in November.
The pair began a relationship in early 2021 and seemed happy for the first few months before the 24-year-old began spending hundreds of dollars a day on methamphetamine and allegedly morphed into a jealous, possessive and abusive partner. The 24-year-old was kicked out of an outlaw motorcycle club in mid-2021 and blamed the alleged victim, allegedly punching her in the face.
From there police allege the accused became emboldened that his alleged domestic violence would go unpunished and began obsessively calling and checking on the alleged victim.
On one occasion, the 24-year-old allegedly became jealous and began assaulting the woman, punching her in the head "over and over for a few minutes" while trying to get her to admit she had kissed another man.
The 24-year-old is then accused of repeatedly raping the woman.
On another occasion, police allege the woman was bashed while behind the wheel of a car, nearly causing her to drive off the road.
When they returned to the 24-year-old's home, he allegedly made the woman sit on her hands in the driveway and threatened her with a large knife.
He then allegedly kicked her and used the knife to cut her hair.
"The alleged victim felt like she had been "knocked unconscious" and felt herself coming back to consciousness," prosecutors say in court documents.
"The accused then stomped on her head a "few times". The alleged victim could feel the accused's foot hit the back of her head as her forehead was forced into the concrete. The alleged victim felt "very dazed and foggy" from the assault. The accused stomped her head more than five times."
Prosecutors detail further alleged physical and sexual assaults and an occasion when the 24-year-old allegedly threatened the woman with a loaded shotgun.
The woman, according to prosecutors, had for months been too scared to go to the police and routinely lied when asked by friends and family about visible bruises and injuries on her face and body. But she made a statement in November and the next day the 24-year-old was arrested outside Belmont courthouse.
He gave an interview where he denied all the allegations and police later raided his house where they allegedly found a loaded .222 rifle and a loaded sawn-off shotgun, among other weapons and ammunition.
