A Canberra woman who was allegedly assaulted and choked by her husband recorded audio of the alleged assaults on her phone, a court has heard.
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Her 31-year-old husband faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday over allegations he assaulted her several times between December and January.
In one incident, it's alleged the Braddon man had choked his wife until she lost consciousness. Documents tendered to the court say the woman had resorted to wearing a shower cap around the house because he would pull her hair, and that one fight was about her eating expensive ice-cream.
On January 17, police say the woman came to the City Police Station to tell them of the alleged assaults. She said she couldn't make a formal statement because she had to stay by her husband's side.
When she returned home from the station, the man demanded to know where she had been, the documents say. It's alleged he grabbed her by the throat and hit her on the face.
She later called triple-0 and officers came to their apartment, but the wife again refused to make a statement. Officers then took the man to his mother's house to separate the couple.
On Sunday, the woman returned to the police station to make a statement about the allegations, and also provided police with the recordings. She said she did not want to make a statement, but feared if she didn't she would end up dead.
One of the officers who arrested the man at his parent's house on Sunday told the court he had listened to one of the recordings, and heard a man saying "I'll fucking kill you if you ruin my life".
Documents say the man in one incident had told the woman she was just a beggar, and had no right to be eating expensive ice cream.
Under cross-examination by the man's defence solicitor, the officer agreed he had also heard an exchange in which the woman asked the man why he had slapped her, to which he replied he had not.
The defence called the man's mother to give evidence, who told the court she had seen the woman twice over Christmas, but had not seen any visible marks on her neck or broken capillaries that would suggest she had been choked.
The man's mother said she had never seen her son be violent, nor heard claims he was violent - though that second suggestion was challenged by the prosecution in cross-examination.
The man had no criminal history, the court heard. He has pleaded not guilty to three charges of common assault, and one of choking.
In refusing the man bail, Magistrate Peter Morrison said the alleged offences were very serious. He detailed an allegation in which the man allegedly squeezed her throat so hard she blacked out. It's alleged she woke to him slapping her face and saying he loved her.
The magistrate also commented on the mother's evidence about a lack of physical marks on the wife's neck. Colonel Morrison said the court often heard evidence from experts that the absence of marks did not mean force had not been applied.
He said the risk of the husband intimidating the complainant was a serious one.
The matter will return to court in February.
