A woman has alleged a Supreme Court judge subjected her to a relentless barrage of "venomous" verbal abuse after he was unable to track her movements through her phone.
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Tasmanian Justice Gregory Geason, 62, and the woman he met through mutual friends in March 2023 had entered into a "whirlwind" relationship about four weeks later.
But the the honeymoon period didn't last and while on a holiday to Europe, she alleged a different side to the man whom she found "charming and nice" appeared.
In Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday, Geason was accused of emotionally abusing and intimidating the woman throughout their relationship between April and November and assaulting her by grabbing her arms and squeezing and shaking her, striking her with his hand.
He has pleaded not guilty to one count of emotional abuse or intimidation and one count of common assault.
The pair went on a European holiday in July 2023 when she alleged he subjected her to a verbal tirade for the first time after he got drunk on white wine.
"(His) character changed (and he) became very hateful and spiteful and called me a slut and told me I wasn't worth anything," she told the court.
"It was venomous like he really hated me."
The ordeal went on for about 30 minutes and was the start of about 15 to 20 times Geason would allegedly verbally abuse her.
The Supreme Court judge tracked the woman using the Find My Phone feature on an iPhone, earphones and a smartwatch he had gifted her, crown prosecutor Neill Hutton alleged.
He would barrage her with texts, email her personal and work emails and call her to find out where she was when she turned off the feature and would get angry if she didn't respond to texts with love heart emojis, the woman said.
After going for after-work drinks with a colleague and leaving her phone at the office, the woman returned to find messages and calls from Geason.
"He was gripping the handle of the steering wheel tightly and gritting his teeth," she said when he picked her up that evening.
She accused him of yelling how she was a bad person for leaving work and how dare she go for drinks with colleagues.
In another instance the woman loaned the earphones Geason had given to her to a family member who he then "happened to come across."
"The inference here is the accused was using headphones to find the victim," Mr Hutton said.
Her phone plan was changed to his so he could identify who she was calling and she was given bank cards to use so he could keep track of what she was spending, the prosecutor said.
Geason allegedly became physical on October 31 when he grabbed her on her upper arms firmly and shook her, hit her hard in the chest, and pushed her where she hit her head.
After finding bruises on her body, the accused judge told the woman she "bruised too easily" and that he "had too much to drink".
The woman said Geason could be "charming and nice and then suddenly flip".
Geason's barrister Tom Percy KC argued there was no coercion or anything sinister in any of the circumstances, saying there was never any physical tracking device on the phone.
"Any suggestion that he tried to invade her privacy or exert some measure of control is simply misconceived," Mr Percy said.
The defence argued the complainant said had been prescribed blood thinning drugs, and suffered medical conditions that may have contributed to the marks.
The hearing, before Victorian Deputy Chief Magistrate Susan Wakeling, is slated to run for five days.
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Australian Associated Press
