Valla DV accused Luke Bennett in Macksville court with bail plea
A Mid-North Coast factory worker behind bars on remand, charged with breaching court orders and using a knife to cause “significant” intimidation, has made a fresh plea for bail.
Mid-North Coast
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A Mid-North Coast factory worker behind bars on remand since early January, charged with breaching court orders and using a knife to cause “significant” intimidation, has made a fresh attempt to be released on bail.
Luke Lesley Noel Bennett is facing two sets of domestic violence charges against the same alleged victim.
The 24-year-old factory worker from the coastal town of Valla has pleaded not guilty to all charges and appeared before Macksville Local Court on Thursday where his lawyer made a fresh application for bail.
The police prosecutor said the court could have “no confidence that any further bail conditions could mitigate the risk” to the alleged victim as Bennett was on bail and the subject of an apprehended violence order on the night of December 31, when he allegedly “reoffended in an act of violence”.
The court heard he used a knife to intimidate his partner.
Three charges stem from an alleged incident at Macksville: contravening an apprehended violence order, stalking and intimidation, common assault and destroying property (a phone).
At the time he was on bail charged with common assault, alleged to have taken place on December 10 at Macksville.
Bennett has never been in custody before, his lawyer told the court, and the “sobering reality” of this time spent at the Clarence Correctional Centre wouldhelp to ensure he complies with any bail conditions handed out.
Magistrate Julia Virgo granted bail with the condition he stays away from Macksville and lives with his mother at Valla and abides by a curfew which has been designed to allow him to continue his job as a factory worker.
The matter has been listed for a four-hour hearing on August 28 at Macksville.
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