news, crime, Martin Phillips
The lawyer for a butcher accused of “brutally” attacking a pregnant 20-year-old has suggested the alleged victim could have wrongly accused his client, with a witness saying “she’s done this type of thing before”. The woman, who The Canberra Times will not identify, presented to Belconnen Police Station late last month with a broken nose, a swollen creek, a bruised pregnant belly, and a laceration on her forearm. She told officers she’d been held against her will and forced to sit on the floor “like a dog” by Martin Carl Phillips, hit in the face, punched hard in the stomach, and sliced with a 30-centimetre hunting knife. She alleged the 35-year-old assaulted her during three incidents between January 25 and 31, and had also head-butted another pregnant woman and punched her in the stomach on January 31. The second woman gave evidence in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday. She denied Phillips had ever assaulted her, and said the complainant in the case didn’t tell her Phillips had hurt her in January. The witness said that she, Phillips and the complainant had hung out on the dates he was alleged to have attacked the 20-year-old, and it didn’t happen – in fact, most of the time the trio just “chilled”. Magistrate James Lawton asked the witness how she’d sustained a graze to her temple that she wore in court. She said she’d recently bumped her head while lawn-mowing for the first time. The witness said that the complainant called her in the early morning of January 30 and said she’d just been bashed by two girls. She said the complainant sent her a photo of her injuries soon after and, when police came to a house the day after while she and Phillips were there, an officer told the 35-year-old: “I can’t wait to get you.” The witness said Phillips told her the complainant “was going to f— him over again”, and the complainant had lied and “done this type of thing before”. READ MORE: Man caused ‘serious harm’ to pregnancy in multiple assaults, police allege She told the court: “I seen it firsthand … she would lie a lot but when she got confronted about it she would lie right in front of you [sic].” Phillips’ lawyer Dean Rutherford, in arguing that his client should be granted bail, said prosecutors did not have an overwhelming case against him. Mr Rutherford told the magistrate: “The concern here … is that, in my submission, there’s a real chance here you’ve got an innocent Aboriginal man locked up … and [potentially] for a number of months.” He entered not guilty pleas on Phillips’ behalf to a dozen charges, including intentionally wounding, two counts of unlawfully confining a person, and two counts of making a reckless threat to kill another person. Mr Rutherford said Phillips was yet to enter a plea to one charge of failing to appear, and was also soon to face circle sentencing for driving offences. Mr Lawton said he would decide whether Phillips should be granted bail next Tuesday. The prosecutor who appeared in court described the allegations against the 35-year-old as “quite extreme and brutal”, and said a police document tendered to the court indicated he had “extraordinary control” over the complainant.
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The lawyer for a butcher accused of “brutally” attacking a pregnant 20-year-old has suggested the alleged victim could have wrongly accused his client, with a witness saying “she’s done this type of thing before”.
The woman, who The Canberra Times will not identify, presented to Belconnen Police Station late last month with a broken nose, a swollen creek, a bruised pregnant belly, and a laceration on her forearm.
She told officers she’d been held against her will and forced to sit on the floor “like a dog” by Martin Carl Phillips, hit in the face, punched hard in the stomach, and sliced with a 30-centimetre hunting knife.
She alleged the 35-year-old assaulted her during three incidents between January 25 and 31, and had also head-butted another pregnant woman and punched her in the stomach on January 31.
The second woman gave evidence in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday.
She denied Phillips had ever assaulted her, and said the complainant in the case didn’t tell her Phillips had hurt her in January.
The witness said that she, Phillips and the complainant had hung out on the dates he was alleged to have attacked the 20-year-old, and it didn’t happen – in fact, most of the time the trio just “chilled”.
Magistrate James Lawton asked the witness how she’d sustained a graze to her temple that she wore in court. She said she’d recently bumped her head while lawn-mowing for the first time.
The witness said that the complainant called her in the early morning of January 30 and said she’d just been bashed by two girls.
She said the complainant sent her a photo of her injuries soon after and, when police came to a house the day after while she and Phillips were there, an officer told the 35-year-old: “I can’t wait to get you.”
The witness said Phillips told her the complainant “was going to f— him over again”, and the complainant had lied and “done this type of thing before”.
She told the court: “I seen it firsthand … she would lie a lot but when she got confronted about it she would lie right in front of you [sic].”
Phillips’ lawyer Dean Rutherford, in arguing that his client should be granted bail, said prosecutors did not have an overwhelming case against him.
Mr Rutherford told the magistrate: “The concern here … is that, in my submission, there’s a real chance here you’ve got an innocent Aboriginal man locked up … and [potentially] for a number of months.”
He entered not guilty pleas on Phillips’ behalf to a dozen charges, including intentionally wounding, two counts of unlawfully confining a person, and two counts of making a reckless threat to kill another person.
Mr Rutherford said Phillips was yet to enter a plea to one charge of failing to appear, and was also soon to face circle sentencing for driving offences.
Mr Lawton said he would decide whether Phillips should be granted bail next Tuesday.
The prosecutor who appeared in court described the allegations against the 35-year-old as “quite extreme and brutal”, and said a police document tendered to the court indicated he had “extraordinary control” over the complainant.
