Rema Pooley: Gympie man jailed for heinous bashing, rape

A Gympie man bashed a woman repeatedly, raped her then tried to pressure her from behind bars to drop the complaint, a court has heard.

A Gympie man who bashed a woman, raped her, then enlisted his mother to pressure the victim into dropping her complaint, has been jailed for seven years.

Wolvi man Rema Henry John Pooley, 31, pleaded guilty to dozens of offences in Brisbane District Court last week, with Judge Nathan Jarro finalising his sentence on Friday.

Pooley’s offences included, most seriously, rape, multiple counts of common assault and assault occasioning bodily harm, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The court heard Pooley’s offences of violence were committed against a woman aged in her early thirties on January 16 and January 18 last year.

His offending commenced about 6.30pm when he drove past the woman and yelled from his vehicle she was a “dirty f****** slut”.

He left his vehicle and pushed her multiple times, before kicking and yelling at her for about 30 minutes while she cowered under a tree in a front yard.

Pooley then dragged her by the hair upstairs and into the house’s kitchen where he threw her to the ground.

He then pulled her up again by the hair and made her stand motionless in a corner, threatening to film it and put it on social media if she needed to go to the bathroom but couldn’t hold it in.

Wolvi man Rema Henry John Pooley, 31. Picture: Facebook

After a time, he punched her in the mouth, loosening a tooth, before punching her repeatedly in the face, telling her, “makeup will cover your bruises”.

Pooley then dragged her by the hair into a bedroom where he removed her jeans and raped her, leaving her feeling “disgusted”, the court heard.

About 11pm, nearly five hours after her ordeal began, Pooley’s victim attempted to escape to the Gympie West Store to flag help, but her tormentor caught up with her, knocked her to the ground and punched her repeatedly, before pulling her by her hair back to his grandmother’s, where he choked her until her body was limp.

Two days later, on January 18, Pooley was arrested after he and his mother Theresa Maree Pooley, 54, of Gympie, attempted to track down the woman at a residence.

Pooley arrived at the address about 10 minutes after police.

As he was arrested, he was yelling, “tell them all that it’s a lie,” the court heard.

Despite his arrest, Pooley, with the assistance of his mother, an associate Erica Paige Kipling, 20, of Mothar Mountain, and a third person, who cannot be legally identified, continued to terrorise the victim.

Poole falsely recorded the victim’s name so he could continue to call her from prison, ringing her 67 times in the space of about a week, while Theresa, Kipling and the third person continued to contact the victim via several mediums to attempt to coerce her into retracting the complaint.

It was submitted on Pooley’s behalf he was “desperate” to re-establish a relationship with his five children and that he had a good work history but was plagued by alcoholism.

Judge Jarro told Pooley his offending was “terrible” and he should be “ashamed” of himself.

“The rape in particular was violent and degrading,” he said.

“The offending was compounded by the attempt to pervert justice.

“It was relentless and strikes at the heart of the justice system.

“You deserve contempt in the community.”

Pooley was granted parole-eligibility on May 19 next year, after he will have served one-third of the seven-year head sentence, taking into account the 613 days of pre-sentence custody he had served.

Pooley’s mother Theresa and family friend Kipling have both previously been sentenced for their role in the attempt to pervert the course of justice.

Theresa was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment wholly suspended, while Kipling was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.

The third co-accused’s charge in the attempt to pervert the course of justice is still before the court.

For help, call DVConnect’s sexual assault helpline 1800 010 120 between 7.30am – 11.30pm, 7 days

Originally published as Rema Pooley: Gympie man jailed for heinous bashing, rape