Warrnambool district man in court charged with rape, false imprisonment

The 34-year-old man, who cannot be named because that could identify the victim, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court via video-link on Monday charged with serious offences, including rape, reckless conduct endangering life and false imprisonment.

The court heard the man was on the run from police for a number of days in December last year.

He was eventually arrested in early January this year.

On Monday he made an unsuccessful bail application and was further remanded in custody.

The court heard the man had displayed clear signs of coercive control over his partner in the lead up to the offending last year.

Then in December, the man and woman were at a residential property when he became enraged when he couldn't unlock her mobile phone.

He allegedly grabbed a broom and pushed the handle into her neck, forcing her head back onto a bench.

The victim told the man she could not breathe.

He then allegedly pulled her into a seperate room before tying her hands together with a piece of rope which he also tied to her legs.

The complainant told police the rope was so tight her hands turned purple.

The man allegedly raped the victim before walking her to a shower and forcing her head back while directing water into her mouth.

The victim attempted to flee the residence about 30 minutes later, jumping into a car and locking the doors.

But the man followed, unlocked the car from an open window and allegedly pulled her out before dragging her inside by the hair.

Once inside, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her in the air as she scratched at his hands, the court heard.

The man then allegedly threw her onto the bed and raped her again.

The alleged offending was reported to police and a search warrant at the property on December 23 last year uncovered the piece of rope, which was seized.

The man allegedly sent a message to the victim on December 27 saying the police wouldn't find him until at least 2022.

Photos of the accused man were sent to the media on December 31 and he was arrested without incident on January 5.

On Monday prosecutor Kate Ottrey told the court the victim was fearful of the accused, who had an escalating addiction to methamphetamine and had tested positive to the drug, as well as cannabis, while on an active community correction order.

Damian Fragapane, representing the accused, said a medical examination of the complainant on December 23 did not uncover any injuries, and that the charges would be contested.

He said the accused man's father was willing to provide a $15,000 bail surety.

But magistrate Peter Mellas said the man was too great a risk of endangering the safety and welfare of the victim and interfering with witnesses.

The man was refused bail and remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.

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