Hooper bailed on torture charges

FORMER Olympic boxer Damien Duncan Hooper has been granted bail on multiple charges, including of torture and choking of a woman known to him while he was on parole.

Supreme Court Judge Thomas Bradley yesterday agreed that strict bail conditions banning the 27-year-old from entering within 20km of Toowoomba would be enough to reduce the risks of Hooper breaching bail.

“At best he has been a very foolish young man in terms of reporting conditions,” Justice Bradley said, referring to the 25 previous breaches of bail.

He is facing seven charges including one count each of torture and grievous bodily harm as well as two of disqualified driving related to an incident on October 11 in Warwick.

The court heard that Hooper, who represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics, wants to reignite his boxing career and is planning to fight in Sydney in December.

Defence barrister Robert Gordon submitted that the Crown case was weak because prosecutors did not have a complainant.

Mr Gordon told the court that the woman alleged to have been tortured and choked, who cannot be named for legal reasons, may have to be declared a “hostile witness” by prosecutors at trial.

When the woman was summonsed to testify at a committal hearing of the charges, she told the court she could not remember.

Prosecutor Erin Kelly argued Hooper should not be released on bail because of his history of breaching court orders. Hooper will live on the Sunshine Coast and report for bail at Maroochydore, the court heard.