Jarrod Bringolf charged after alleged threatening to set girlfriend on fire in Wollongong unit

A man accused of carrying out a series of violent acts against his girlfriend during a fight inside their Wollongong unit allegedly made several chilling threats towards her life, the NSW Supreme Court has been told.

Jarrod Bringolf has been refused bail in the NSW Supreme Court amid allegations he doused his partner in corrosive bathroom cleaner and threatened to set her on fire.

A man allegedly doused his girlfriend in bathroom cleaner and threatened to set her on fire during a violent fight in which he allegedly told her she’d be left “paralysed”, a court has heard.

Police allege Jarrod Bringolf, 30, waged a campaign of domestic terror against the woman on the evening of October 3 last year, which began when he allegedly hit her in the head with a golf club not long after they got into an argument when she returned home from a day out.

It is alleged Bringolf threw a hammer and chisel at the woman’s head, before picking up an artwork she’d been working on and scrawling the word ‘SLUT’ across it.

“The accused continued to yell at the victim saying words to the effect ‘I’m going to turn you into a vegetable and paralyse you, I’ll pay someone to rape you’,” police wrote in documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court during Bringolf’s unsuccessful bid for bail last month.

Bringolf was refused bail in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney last month. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“The accused stated to the victim he was going to stab her whilst getting a knife from the kitchen.”

The court heard Bringolf injured his right shoulder while allegedly attempting to throw an electrical heater at the woman, prompting him to go to Wollongong Hospital for treatment.

When he returned a few hours later, Bringolf allegedly sprayed the woman with an industrial bathroom cleaner he’d stolen from the emergency department before striking a flame on a cigarette lighter and telling the woman “I’ll light you up”.

The woman managed to contact her grandmother who picked her up short time later.

The court documents did not detail what, if any, injuries the woman sustained during the alleged attack.

It is alleged she returned to the Housing NSW unit the following day to find some of her belongings destroyed, including a puffer jacket that had been sprayed with ink.

Police arrested Bringolf that evening and charged with assault and contravene domestic violence order offences.

The most serious charge - throwing a corrosive substance with intent to maim or disfigure - carries a maximum penalty of 25 years behind bars upon conviction, the court heard.

Police allege Bringolf made admissions to some of the crimes when interviewed by detectives, telling them he’d gotten angry with his girlfriend, however he denied spraying her with the bathroom cleaner.

He was remanded in custody at the time, with police bolstering an apprehended domestic violence order that prohibited him from having any contact with his girlfriend.

Police allege Bringolf carried out a campaign of violence and threats against his former partner, before allegedly attempting to coerce her from his prison cell into having the AVO between them altered so he could live with her if released on bail.

However, it is alleged Bringolf bombarded the woman with phone calls from jail and wrote her a letter in which he allegedly urged her to have the AVO altered so they could live together if he got bail.

Justice Belinda Rigg said Bringolf’s alleged actions in contacting the woman in defiance of the AVO raised clear concerns about his intentions towards her if he was released from custody.

Bringolf’s lawyer said his client would agree to abide by stringent bail conditions including living at his mother’s home under house arrest and having no contact with the woman.

But Justice Rigg refused the application, saying she had no confidence Bringolf would abide by the conditions, noting he had a lengthy history offending including convictions for domestic violence against a previous partner.

Bringolf is yet to enter pleas to the fresh charges, with the matter set to return to court in May.