A woman faked an illness to alert authorities and escape five months of confinement inside a locked home, police have alleged.
The man accused of confining his partner allegedly wouldn't let the woman leave the locked premises without his supervision.
She told police her partner had multiple locks on the home's front door which she could not access.
The man, who is not named to protect the alleged victim's identity, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday via audio-visual link from the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
The 43-year-old pleaded not guilty to a charge of unlawfully confining another person and indicated a guilty plea to possessing a prohibited weapon.
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 attended 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 attended 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.
Magistrate Jane Campbell asked the alleged offender on Wednesday if he wanted to consult with a lawyer before entering pleas.
"It doesn't matter," he said.
"I know what I want to enter my pleas as."
He is set to face court again next month.
