A MAN allegedly raped and strangled his ex-girlfriend as part of a campaign of violence aimed at isolating her from others, the High Court heard.
Prosecutors also claimed the 36-year-old man dragged the woman down a street by the hair, tried to roll her up inside a mattress and declared she would be killed.
The accused, who cannot be named to protect her identity, is charged with a total of 21 offences spanning an 18-month period between August 2022 and February this year.
He faces counts of rape, causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, non-fatal strangulation and attempted choking, common assault, threats to kill, criminal damage, stalking and harassment.
During one incident at a friend’s house he brought the woman out onto the street and dragged her to her own home, it was claimed.
Based on the woman’s account, she repeatedly returned home from work to find him waiting, having climbed through a window to get inside and telling her they should never be apart.
The man flew into a rage again over a misunderstood comment about his parents, according to the prosecution, pushing her onto a sofa and strangling her.
“He told her afterwards that she had gone purple and her eyes were rolling,” counsel submitted.
When the woman left to go home, he allegedly carried her back inside up to his bedroom, crying and saying he was sorry.
“He proceeded to take her trousers off and have sex with her,” the barrister contended.
“She froze and didn’t want to have sex with him, but was so terrified of his reaction that she didn’t put up any resistance.”
During another alleged assault over taking rubbish to the dump, he knocked the woman over and broke her elbow.
The prosecutor added: “This has not since healed and she feels this is because he is constantly aggravating the injury by pulling, hitting and manipulating her arm.”
Days later, she claimed he elbowed and burst her nose while she was lying in bed.
“He tried to roll up the mattress with her still lying on it and threatened to kill her,” counsel said.
The court heard the woman was targeted again after she had a drink with her boss at Christmas.
She woke up on Boxing Day to discover the defendant allegedly punching and strangling her.
He even injured himself while making some attempts to hurt her, it was claimed.
“On one occasion he kicked her and missed, hit the wall and broke his foot,” the prosecutor contended.
Police were alerted following an incident in February where the defendant allegedly accused the woman of cheating on him and dragged her down a lane by the hair, punching and striking her head off the ground.
Amid alleged threats to kill her, she escaped and hid in a bush to call 999.
But the defendant located and jumped on top of the woman, strangling her until a witness intervened and pulled him off her.
She sustained cuts to her face, body and scalp where clumps of hair had apparently been pulled out.
Handing himself in to police on February 26, the accused denied all alleged offences during interviews.
It was also revealed that the woman has now withdrawn her statement of complaint.
Seeking bail for the accused, defence counsel Michael Boyd acknowledged his client faces charges of “the most serious kind”.
But the barrister argued: “It has now become a very difficult case (for the prosecution) without the injured party’s cooperation.”
Adjourning the hearing, Mr Justice McAlinden requested more medical information before deciding the bail application.
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