Wade Raymond: Mount Warrigal man locked up for repeatedly assaulting ex

An Illawarra man’s repeated denials of assaulting and choking his former lover have been dismissed by a magistrate.

A Mount Warrigal man who continues to deny a string of assaults against his former girlfriend in Lake Illawarra last year will spend up to three years in jail.

Wade Raymond, 27, pleaded not guilty to four counts of contravening an apprehended violence order, four counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of using an offensive weapon with the intent to commit an indictable offence, two counts of intentionally choking a person without consent and destroying or damaging property.

However, after a two-day hearing earlier this month, Raymond was found to be guilty of the 13 charges.

Raymond faced two additional charges, namely contravening an AVO and stalking or intimidating with the intention of causing fear of physical harm, which he pleaded guilty to.

The charges Raymond admitted to committing occurred in May last year during a period where an AVO was in place between him and the woman he had been in an on-again-off-again relationship with for more than three years.

Wade Raymond appeared in Wollongong Local Court via video link. Picture: Facebook

The order didn’t stop him from barging into her home one evening and yelling that he didn’t “care if the coppers came” before telling her “I am going to die and so are you” and “I am going to kill you”.

The victim screamed for him to leave with neighbours raising the alarm with police.

Raymond was seen by the neighbour trying to tamper with the victim’s electrical box before fleeing the scene on his green Kawasaki motorbike.

Later in the evening, the menace sent the victim a series of threatening text messages including “C*** ima kill u”, “You better ring cops maggot cause o (sic) get close to you your dead”, “Nah your gone Xu t” and “Wait till I get you dog”.

The following day, Raymond walked into Lake Illawarra Command to seek legal advice, and ended up being arrested for his behaviour.

While on bail and less than a month after the previous incident, Raymond was back terrorising the woman.

Wade Raymond will be eligible for parole later this year. Picture: Facebook

On four separate occasions Raymond assaulted the woman and two of those times he was in possession of a knife.

During two of these shocking incidents, all of which he denied occurred, he choked the woman and on another occasion he damaged the fibro wall in front of her abode.

Raymond sat still on the video link as his solicitor Melanie Tilbrook told the court her client was “sorry” but “not” responsible for the injuries that he “acknowledged” had occurred.

Magistrate Greg Elks described Raymond’s domestic violence offences as “very serious by nature” before sentencing him to three years in prison with a non-parole period of 16 months.

The sentence was backdated to when Raymond went into custody on June 22, 2021, meaning he will be eligible for parole on October 21 this year.

The AVO between Raymond and the victim was extended for two years.