Joshua Denniss: Alleged attempted murderer ‘too aggressive’ to front court

A Wollongong man accused of viciously bashing a man only weeks after being released from jail has been “too aggressive and volatile” to appear before a magistrate, a court has heard.

A Wollongong man accused of almost bashing a worker to death in the early hours of Tuesday morning was “too aggressive and volatile” to appear before a magistrate, a court has heard.

Police will allege Joshua Denniss, 38, viciously assaulted Amos Baker at the entrance to the Adina Apartment Hotel building on the corner of Market St and Corrimal St in the Wollongong CBD.

The incident, which was captured on the building‘s CCTV cameras, is believed to have taken place shortly after 3.30am.

Police said they were called to the scene, which is only a few hundred metres from the Wollongong police command’s main building, just before 4am with reports of an alleged assault.

“A 47-year-old man was located in the reception area suffering severe injuries,” police said in a media statement released on Tuesday.

“He was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Wollongong Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.”

A crime scene was established, which was examined by specialist forensic police.

Court documents said Denniss was arrested at the premises at 3.50am.

He was taken to the police station where he was charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of causing wounding/grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder and refused bail overnight.

In Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, it was heard Denniss was a convicted criminal who had only been released from custody in Queensland a week ago after finishing a jail sentence in an unrelated matter.

The matter was adjourned until Thursday because he was unable to be brought before the court.

The situation, however, was the same 24 hours later with lawyer Caitlin Drabble informing Magistrate Chris McRobert that Community Corrections had advised her the accused was “too aggressive” and there was a threat of injury given “physical force” would be required to restrain him.

“I spoke to his legal representative yesterday (lawyer Matthew Barnes) about [the accused’s] fitness,” Ms Drabble said.

“I have concerns about proceeding with limited instructions. Given his volatile nature with Corrections in Wollongong and now Corrections at Parklea there is still a live issue as to his fitness.”

Magistrate McRobert formally refused Denniss bail before adjourning the matter until Friday.

Denniss will remain behind bars on remand overnight.