Choking accused to miss Christmas

A GOLD Coast man is accused of breaking into his former partner’s home in the middle of the night and choking her.

The 30-year-old man, who has spent the past four months in custody, will not spend Christmas with his family after being denied bail in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday.

He is accused of breaching his bail conditions, probation and a domestic violence order by breaking into his former partner’s home in July, when the woman woke to find him walking around her bed in a rage. The man allegedly took the woman’s phone from her.

The woman tried to leave but the man allegedly grabbed her jumper and pulled her on to a lounge, causing bruising.

The man allegedly pinned her down, placed his left forearm on her neck and covered her nose and mouth tightly to stop her from yelling.

It is alleged the woman could not breathe.

The man is also accused of hiding in the roof of the woman’s carport and in a shed at the property.

Defence lawyer Troy Smith, of Moloney MacCallum Abdelshahied Lawyers, said the long stay in custody had been a sobering experience for his client.

“On his first time on remand, this has had a little bit of time to settle in,” Mr Smith said.

He said the man was at risk of spending too much time behind bars if convicted of the offence.

“The issue is whether 125 days would see my client unfairly held in custody, and thereby serving an unjust portion of his time on remand prior to sentence,” Mr Smith said.

He said there could be a delay up to 18 months before the matter was finalised.

The court was told police were concerned about the man being released because he had no fixed home.

In considering bail Magistrate Louise Shephard said her biggest concern was the risk he posed to the woman.

Ms Shephard said if the man was found guilty he would be facing a significant term of imprisonment and he had not spent an unjust amount of time in custody.

“What concerns me is these alleged offences have occurred while on probation, you have failed to comply with bail,” Ms Shephard said. “You were subject to a protection order at the time which is very significant.

“So I am not in anyway satisfied if I were to give you bail conditions that you would comply with those conditions.”

The matter was adjourned to the Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court at Southport on February 1.