A magistrate has spoken of the courts duty "to protect as well as punish" as she locked up a man accused of threatening to slit his ex-partner's throat one month after she sought a protection order against him.
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Frederick Robert James Charles, 23, is accused of becoming angry with his ex-partner while trying to see his child.
He allegedly called her and threatened to "slash your f---ing throat". Charles allegedly said that "cops don't scare me" and made more "violent" threats, a court heard.
The woman had taken out an interim protection order against Charles less than a month earlier.
He appeared before the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with contravening the protection order.
He applied for bail before Special Magistrate Maria Doogan.
Charles said he would consent to a permanent protection order for the complainant if released.
But Ms Doogan said she could have no faith he would comply with that order, or with bail conditions she would impose, given his history.
"Courts exist to protect people as well as punish people," she said.
She said that court orders didn't work "in many cases", but said applicants had a right to expect they would be protected and the orders complied with.
Ms Doogan said the threats were made in the "most violent terms and most vile terms".
Charles tried to speak over the top of Ms Doogan, and she repeatedly told him to be quiet.
He said the court had heard only his ex-partner's version of events, saying he'd politely asked for access to his child, and that she had got angry at him before making him out to be a bad person.
The court heard the threats had been recorded.
Charles was denied bail and will reappear on March 24.
