A man accused of confining his girlfriend inside a home for five months has been granted bail after a lawyer argued "affordability of rent" and not a locked door prevented her from leaving.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The alleged victim is said to have faked an illness in order to alert authorities and escape.
The alleged offender faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday, when Legal Aid lawyer Jeremy Banwell successfully argued for him to be granted bail.
The man has not been named to protect the woman's identity.
The 43-year-old man previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of unlawfully confining another person and indicated a guilty plea to possessing a prohibited weapon.
A prosecutor had opposed bail, citing a likelihood of reoffending and endangering the safety and welfare of another person.
Mr Banwell argued the prosecution had "an impossibly weak case".
The lawyer claimed there were multiple occasions when the woman had left the home unaccompanied.
"Feeling trapped in the relationship [is] not the same as a criminal offence," Mr Banwell said.
Mr Banwell told the court he had been instructed that a series of locks on the front door were for security reasons following three attempted home invasions.
"The primary barrier to the complainant leaving the home ... is rather the unfortunate affordability of rent in this jurisdiction," Mr Banwell stated.
A prosecutor argued the man had an extensive criminal history with multiple family violence offences.
They said the alleged victim had "expressed she doesn't feel safe if he is released".
Ultimately, special magistrate Rebecca Christensen granted the man bail.
Police documents previously tendered to the court detail how officers were called to Tuggeranong Health Interchange in Greenway on September 26.
The woman had "convinced" the alleged offender she needed to attend the clinic.
"Now that she was here, she was seeking assistance to leave the relationship by asking the nurse to contact police while her partner waited in the car downstairs," police documents claim.
The woman told police she was not allowed to make phone calls or send text messages without permission over the five months, only sometimes managing to do so when the man was in the bathroom or asleep.
Police were shown messages the woman had sent her mother and friend that day stating she needed to escape the relationship and how she felt unsafe in the man's company.
The woman had visited the clinic a week earlier and told a nurse she had considered contacting Domestic Violence Crisis Services but had not been able to due to alleged supervision of her phone.
"[The woman] disclosed that the defendant is constantly watching her with multiple cameras and because he is unemployed, she is never unsupervised," police documents state.
Police visited the man's home following his arrest and found five to six locks on the interior front door, including a large steel brace on the floor.
External security doors were only accessible via one key found on the alleged offender, documents claim.
Officers also found external CCTV around the home described as "extensive security", and tall fencing.
The man is set to face court again next week.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
![The ACT courts building, where the man was granted bail. Picture by Jamila Toderas The ACT courts building, where the man was granted bail. Picture by Jamila Toderas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/DaHt57RjVSvtvCBUgFzTWj/b22fb677-50b1-4afb-9161-aad818914902.jpg/r0_256_5000_3078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)