Southern Highlands anaesthetist Dr David Bell pleaded not guilty to assaulting, choking woman

Police allege a prominent Southern Highlands anaesthetist pinned a woman to the wall by her throat before he threatened to “beat the s***” out of her.

Police allege a prominent Southern Highlands anaesthetist pinned a woman to the wall by her throat before assaulting her and threatening to “beat the s*** out of (her)”.

Dr David Bell, 40, was represented by his lawyer in Moss Vale Local Court on Wednesday after he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentionally choking a person without consent and intimidation with intent to cause fear.

Police allege the Mittagong resident, who works at Bowral and District Hospital, assaulted a woman at around 11am on September 26 in Mittagong after he became upset about her smoking a cigarette.

Police claim Dr Bell pushed her in the shoulder before he put his hands around her throat and pinned her to the wall, leading the victim to believe she was being strangled.

Police allege Dr Bell then pushed the woman back onto a bed and struck her on the left side of her face before pushing down on the woman’s face and neck while she lay on the bed. According to police, the doctor continued to push the woman’s face into the bed, even after she rolled over onto her stomach in an attempt to avoid the suffocating pressure.

Dr David Bell works as an anaesthetist at Bowral and District Hospital. Picture: Wesley Lonergan

The court heard the alleged victim has an audio recording of the alleged assault, during which police allege Dr Bell can be heard threatening to hurt and financially ruin the woman.

Police allege Dr Bell can be heard telling the alleged victim “I’m going to beat the s*** out of you” in the recording.

Dr Bell has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court heard Dr Bell is an anaesthetist who works at Bowral and District Hospital as well as private practices. His lawyer told the court Dr Bell is “a person of the utmost integrity” with “unblemished previous character”.

He said the charges would likely threaten Dr Bell’s job as an anaesthetist, which would be “a loss to the community” at a time when doctors are in high demand.

The court heard it is “highly likely that his practising certificate will be suspended” due to the charges of assault, choking, and intimidation.

Magistrate Mark Douglass said a persuasive application would need to be submitted if the defence would like to expedite a hearing date for the matter, so as not to impact Dr Bell’s employment.

If the application is not made, Magistrate Douglass suggested the hearing could take place mid next year due to the growing backlog of court matters due to Covid.

Dr Bell’s matter will be mentioned on October 21 to determine whether the hearing can be set down this year.