Mackay man accused of rape, violent rampage faces court

An alleged rapist who is also accused of chasing multiple people with an axe wants to be released amid claims of “unreliable” witness accounts.

The alleged rapist was denied bail in the Mackay Magistrates Court

A man accused of raping a woman in her home and on a separate occasion slamming a door in her face while he was being chased with a knife is fighting the charges.

The Mackay man, who faces 13 other charges in total, also allegedly chased several people in a public place with an axe, causing one man to fall into a table and hurt his ribs.

The charges relate to alleged incidents in February and April this year while the Mackay man was couch surfing at the alleged rape victim’s house.

He appeared in Mackay Magistrates Court this week on three counts of wilful damage and one count of public nuisance, acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, assaults occasioning bodily harm, possessing explosives, going armed to cause fear, making threats, failure to take reasonable care in respect of syringes/utensils, stealing, and contravening a probation order.

ATSILS solicitor Daniel Lane claimed in court that the credibility of the person who allegedly witnessed the knife chase was “at best unreliable and at worst highly questionable”.

He said that instead of the witness calling the police after witnessing the alleged attack, she decided “to clean up the crime scene of all the blood, washes the sheets and pillows”

“She doesn’t proceed to call the police, instead she proceeds to burn all his clothes,” Mr Lane said.

He also claimed there were irregularities with the sworn statements regarding his client’s rape charge and suggested there was a motive for one witness to lie about his evidence so that he could take up the couch his client had been sleeping on.

“If my client was to reside on that couch, (that witness) would face homelessness again,” he said.

Magistrate Lewis Sillito accepted there were “triable issues” with respect to the rape charges and acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm but that he could not “form a concrete view that takes it beyond that”.

He was not convinced he could set aside the two charges.

Police also allege the man smashed a residential window then made threats to return with a firearm, breaking a lock and stealing a bike, yelling at someone at a unit complex before smashing a windscreen of a car and that he was caught with ammunition while being arrested.

The man, who appeared in court via video link, could be seen growing restless with his head in his hands as Magistrate Sillito made his final remarks.

“I am not satisfied based on pre-sentence custody and the proposed conditions that he has shown causes to why his continued detention is no longer justified,” Mr Sillito said.

Bail was refused.

Originally published as Mackay man accused of rape, violent rampage faces court