A BROKEN Hill man facing serious sexual assault, intimidation and weapons charges has been refused bail.
Appearing via video link at Wentworth from the Broken Hill Correctional Centre on Tuesday, the 30-year-old swayed in his chair as the magistrate read a summary brief of his six charges.
The list of charges included sexual intercourse without consent, threaten to destroy or damage another person’s property, possess explosive in public place, possess prohibited drug, and two counts of have custody of an offensive implement in a public place.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Tim Waite sought to oppose the accused’s bail, arguing he was an unacceptable risk to the community.
A summary read by the magistrate detailed allegations of a sexual assault of a woman on December 30 last year, sometime between 2pm and 3pm.
Sgt Waite told the court the accused had returned to the woman’s address twice after the initial incident, including on January 4 where he had allegedly threatened to burn the house down.
The court heard police found him the following morning in possession of a firework, and he was later arrested on January 6 at a petrol station in possession of a “substantial amount” of methylamphetamine, a black axe and a black wooden club.
Sgt Waite said the accused was “extremely agitated” when he found out about the charges laid upon him and had said to police “I wish I had just bashed them”.
The man’s defence lawyer Samuel Emery expressed concerns about the potential duration of his client’s pre-sentence custody, and said his client strongly denied the allegations.
He said the 30-year-old received a disability support pension for a cognitive impairment and had both a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a serious heart condition requiring him to take three different medication tablets a day.
Mr Emery asked the magistrate to bail the man under strict conditions, including an 8pm to 7am curfew, a requirement to abstain from drugs, and to make no contact with prosecution witnesses.
Magistrate Jacqueline Trad said the most compelling element she had to consider was the man’s “lengthy history of violence”.
“The risks that are before me cannot be mitigated in a considerable way,” Ms Trad said.
“He is an unacceptable risk to the community; therefore bail is refused.”
The man will front a committal hearing on March 4.
