Benjamin Craig Faulds allegedly broke into love interest’s Tarpeena home, threatened her

A spurned man was “foaming at the mouth” and armed when he allegedly forced his way into the home of a woman he says stole his bike during a brief relationship.

A jilted lover has been accused of threatening a woman with a baseball bat in her own home after she rejected him – after she allegedly robbed him during a brief relationship.

Benjamin Craig Faulds, 28, was “foaming at the mouth” and armed when he allegedly entered the Tarpeena property for the second time on June 12, the Mount Gambier Magistrate Court heard on Tuesday.

He was arrested on June 14 and charged with two counts of aggravated serious criminal trespass, property damage, damaging building or motor vehicle and aggravated commit assault in relation to the incident.

Benjamin Craig Faulds was granted bail at the Mount Gambier Magistrate Court on Tuesday. Picture: Facebook

The police prosecutor alleged Faulds first approached the home in his car at 9.10pm, left and returned with the woman getting out of the shower to hear banging on her garage door, then back door, before he allegedly entered the house.

He knocked over a clothes rack, kicked her motorcycle and ripped the doors off her television unit before leaving, saying he would be back, the court heard.

The woman then called a friend and the police, and when Faulds allegedly returned an hour later she described him as “foaming at the mouth”.

“Mr Faulds had expressed to her a desire to have a relationship with her, so she essentially told him that would never happen,” the prosecutor said.

“The defendant entered the house by the rear door, he forced the door open and was armed with a blue metal baseball bat.

“He stated to her he was going to smash all her windows and furniture and then she would be next.”

The accused had left by the time police arrived at 10.40pm.

He was also in court charged with breaking into a Kalangadoo shed and stealing a chainsaw between June 2 and 4 after his fingerprints were allegedly discovered at the scene.

The prosecutor said Faulds had an “extensive history” including seven months jail time for a 2019 stabbing plus serving a year for burglaries and thefts in Victoria.

She argued home detention should only be granted a considerable distance from Tarpeena, not 2km from where the woman lives alone.

“The protection of the victim is paramount,” she said.

“It allows no reaction time whatsoever if he breaches that home detention to protect the single female.”

Defence lawyer Jonathan Brohier said the facts were “seriously contested” describing the woman as “a known drug user”.

He outlined at three month relationship between the pair saying the night before the alleged offending she stayed at Faulds’ house, left before he woke and found his mountain bike and food missing.

Mr Brohier argued for strict bail conditions at his father’s house.

“Given the state of his record Mr Faulds is a man who knows how to comply with bail conditions,” he said

Magistrate Maria Panagiotidis granted home detention bail at $1000, with his father to act as guarantor in the amount of $1000.

“Two kilometres isn’t very far when one’s in the country but home detention does keep the defendant at his home address,” she said.

“I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.

“You do live in a small town, you’re not that far from the alleged victim and ordinarily that would be a big red flag.

“Because your father is prepared to stand up for you and be your guarantor I’m going to give you this chance.”

Faulds will reappear next month.