Michael Llewelyn to face trial charged with revenge anal rape of Bendigo woman

A Bendigo man will fight allegations at trial he revenge raped a woman after finding her in bed with his mate, leaving her bleeding.

Michael Llewelyn face trail charged over the alleged rape of a woman at Bendigo.

A Bendigo man will fight allegations at trial he revenge raped a woman after finding her in bed with his mate.

Golden Square man Michael Llewelyn, 37, pleaded not guilty at Bendigo Magistrates Court on Friday to raping a woman twice in March 2017.

The first incident allegedly occurred when he went to the complaint’s house to drop off ice.

While there he allegedly gave her a drug called Lyrica, which allows meth users to feel “drunk”.

The complaint was allegedly so drug affected she was unable to walk unassisted and Llewelyn took her up to the bedroom before raping her.

The alleged victim is alleged to have been found “crying and hysterical”.

A witness who was downstairs looking after the complaint’s son told the court Llewelyn “rushed out of the door” following the alleged assault before finding the complaint “crying and hysterical”.

The witness told the court the complaint said Llewelyn had raped her.

However, after she recovered from the Lyrica a few hours later the complainant couldn’t remember the alleged assault.

Llewelyn’s barrister Ian Polak told the court the accused was selling ice at the time and the complainant was “paying for drugs” with sex and the two were in a “friends with benefits” relationship.

Mr Polak told the court the complainant was “jealous” Llewelyn had been sleeping with other women, with a witness stating the complaint had become “infatuated” with Llewelyn.

But after the first alleged assault, police allege the complainant broke off their relationship.

Police allege Llewellyn sent 2503 texts and made 2754 calls to the complaint in the days after the alleged assault, with the accused becoming suspicious she was seeing someone else when she didn’t reply.

Llewelyn then allegedly broke into the complainant’s home to find her in bed with his mate he played footy with, enraging him.

The complaint got dressed and followed Llewellyn downstairs into the kitchen where he was allegedly holding kitchen knives and yelling “your f**cked c**t” at the man upstairs.

An argument ensued between the complainant and Llewelyn, who allegedly grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground.

The alleged victim is alleged to have been in “friends with benefits” relationship with the accused. Picture: Tinnakorn Jorruang/iStock

“The complaint believed he was trying to kill her and was terrified,” police allege.

Police allege the complaint then pushed Llewelyn into a wall, leaving a hole in the plaster, before he allegedly retaliated by slamming her head into the kitchen door, with a witness describing “holes in the wall” and “red marks on her head”.

As Llewelyn left the house he allegedly took the complaint’s phone and wallet, telling her to come to his house if she wanted them back.

She went and apologised for having sex with his friend, asking for her belongings back. But he refused.

The two smoked meth together and engaged in consensual vaginal intercourse before Llewelyn allegedly told her “I’m going in your a---”.

The complaint replied “no you’re not” before Llewelyn allegedly punching her in the back of the head and anally raped her.

The complainant tried to get away but Llewelyn allegedly pinned her down by holding her neck into the bed.

“The complaint then gave up struggling … she believed that the more she resisted, the more the accused enjoyed it,” police allege.

The complainant then went home and told her friend who lived with her about the rape.

A close friend of the complainant who helped her get off ice told the court the complainant was “hesitant” to go to police and didn’t come forward until 2020 because Llewelyn “is very intimidating and she is very fearful of him”.

The accused and the alleged victim smoked ice together

When Llewelyn was arrested he denied having anal sex with the complaint, describing it as “dirty”, and denied raping her.

He allegedly told police “I lost me na-na” when he found the complainant in bed with another man and smashed up the kitchen, but claimed he would never hit a woman because he would likely “put her into next week”.

Mr Polak called into question the credibility of the complainant’s evidence, with police noting her use of methamphetamine had made her “unsure of dates and times”.

The court heard the complainant had originally given a date of the offence that Llewelyn had an alibi for.

However, Magistrate Ross Betts found there was enough evidence to support a conviction to the charges at trial after hearing evidence from multiple witnesses over a two-day committal hearing.

Mr Betts committed Llewelyn to the County Court for a directions hearing in April.