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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Tim Piccione

Alleged rapist treated partner 'like a piece of meat', court told

An accused rapist allegedly forced his long-term partner to urinate in the backyard "like a dog" and not shower during a protracted period of sexual assault, a court has heard.

"He was pretty much just treating me like a piece of meat for three days," the woman said in an interview with police.

The man, who is not named to protect the alleged victim's identity, on Monday faced the ACT Supreme Court for the first day of his jury trial.

He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two offences alleging indecent acts, and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

In her opening address, prosecutor Skye Jerome laid out the alleged offending that occurred sometime between September 2010 and September 2011.

Ms Jerome told jurors they would hear the man had a tendency to commit physical and sexual violence against the woman throughout their relationship.

The pair have three children together and were together for about seven years.

The prosecutor told the court the alleged offending began when the man came home to find his partner sleeping and began "stomping on her head" with shoes on.

That same day, he is accused of knocking the woman unconscious on two occasions, at least once with a metal bar.

The man allegedly drove the woman to an empty house, where he accused her of infidelity and "ordered" her to shower.

"She was injured and she was scared," Ms Jerome said of the woman, who was by this time allegedly covered in blood.

He then allegedly threw her on the couch and threatened her by swinging a Stanley knife "in front of her naked vagina", which he is said to have inspected and "could tell she had been sleeping with someone".

"Shut the f--- up. You're not at home, c---," he allegedly said as he muffled her screams.

The man is then accused of raping his partner for the first of four times over the following three days.

When the alleged victim needed to use the bathroom, the prosecutor said the man forced the woman to urinate outside for the first of multiple occasions.

"I had to go in the backyard and piss like a dog," the woman said in her police interview played in court on Monday.

The man is also accused of kicking his partner into dirt and her own urine.

"Any time he felt like it, he was just raping me, bashing me," the woman said of the alleged offending period.

"I had to stay naked for three days. I wasn't allowed to put clothes on."

Ms Jerome said the man fell asleep after three days and "acted like nothing happened" when he woke up.

The woman would some time later escape her home by jumping over a neighbour's fence to stay at a safehouse.

The prosecutor finished her opening address by listing several alleged incidents in the pair's relationship she said spoke to the man's tendency to be physically and sexually violent.

They included the man allegedly assaulting the woman while she was pregnant, two times he is accused of splitting her head open with a helmet and an incident when he is accused of trying to stab his partner after raping her, forcing the woman to jump out of a moving car.

He is not on trial for these allegations.

Defence barrister John Purnell SC delivered short opening remarks on Monday, telling the jury it would have to consider five key questions during the trial.

These included whether there was any independent corroboration, in DNA or medical evidence, to support the woman's claims and if there were any witnesses to the historical claims.

He also asked what it would mean if the pair had been affected by drugs during the alleged period of offending.

Finally, the barrister asked if the woman's claims could be part of a "revenge campaign" or be driven by other motivation.

The trial continues.

  • Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
The ACT Supreme Court, where the man's trial began on Monday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong
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