Gagandeep Singh, Kayle McElwee committed to trial after allegedly torturing, assaulting woman

A woman allegedly held captive and tortured by two men in a Surfers Paradise unit has told a court she feared she was going to die during the alleged ordeal. FULL REPORT

Southport Courthouse. Picture: Jerad Williams

A woman allegedly held captive and tortured by two men in a Surfers Paradise unit has told a court she feared she was going to die during the alleged ordeal.

The alleged victim of Gagandeep Singh, 41, and Kayle Michael McElwee, 37, was one of several witnesses cross-examined during the pair’s committal hearing in Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Both are charged with torture, wounding, deprivation of liberty, and assault occasioning bodily harm whilst armed and in company.

The woman told the court that several men – including Mr Singh and Mr McElwee, who she considered “one of her mates” – were at her unit when she got home after midnight on March 31.

She alleged in her evidence that everyone but the two co-accused had left when Mr Singh suddenly hit her in the head with a rubber mallet, striking her there more and other parts of her body more than a dozen times.

The woman claimed Mr McElwee also hit her on the leg several times with a meat tenderiser, and that Mr Singh used the scissor attachment on a multitool to slice her thigh and hack off clumps of her hair. The court was told the multitool was not found at the scene.

The court was told the woman was allegedly blocked by Mr McElwee when she tried to flee via the third-storey balcony, though she was soon able to escape.

She said she felt she was drifting in and out of consciousness during the alleged assault, and at one point thought she was “definitely going to die”.

The woman claimed Mr Singh seemed to believe she was involved in a reported burglary at his home prior to the alleged incident.

She said during cross-examination that some events in her initial statement to police were in “the wrong order”, and that she did not directly see Mr McElwee’s alleged weapon.

Brief evidence was heard from two other witnesses, including a Gold Coast University Hospital doctor.

Both men’s cases were committed for trial in Southport District Court, with only Mr Singh entering formal pleas of not guilty to the charges.

The two co-accused made applications for bail following Wednesday’s proceedings – having been refused bail following their arrests – but both were again remanded in custody.

Their cases are expected to return to court next year.