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Anthony Choueri: Kingsbury dad allegedly brutally assaults women

A Kingsbury father is alleged to have brutally attacked several women, including using knives and scissors to injure a pregnant woman, during an alleged reign of terror.

Choueri has been released on bail.
Choueri has been released on bail.

A Kingsbury father who is alleged to have brutally assaulted several women, including one heavily pregnant with his child, has been released on bail because of COVID-19.

Anthony Choueri allegedly made a woman repeatedly think she was going to die as he attacked her with a butcher’s knife, scissors and his fists multiple times from July 2019 to January.

He allegedly cut slits across her face with the knife and on another occasion repeatedly bashed her head into a bathroom wall when she was just weeks from giving birth to their child.

The 30-year-old fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, September 3, having previously been denied bail over the alleged assaults.

Choueri allegedly met the woman online in June 2019 and she moved in with him a month later.

The first physical attack allegedly occurred in July 2019 when he pushed her face into bedding so she couldn’t breathe properly then caused her to black out by repeatedly punching her in the face.

Choueri allegedly told her he was going to kill her and squeezed her neck while she pleaded for him to stop.

In September 2019 he allegedly accused her of cheating and threatened to cut off her hair and kill her, before holding a butcher’s knife to her throat and cutting slits across her face and nose.

A week after her mum helped her move into emergency accommodation in Wantirna South in December, she allegedly invited him over when he convinced her he’d changed.

He allegedly found mens’ phone numbers in her phone and punched her in the head, before she fled to the bathroom, where he smashed the door in and choked her.

The woman had him over again in January, weeks before she gave birth to his baby, when he allegedly told her he was going to kill her, scratched her neck with scissors, punched her in the face, and smashed her head into the bathroom wall.

She reported the incident to police in February.

Choueri was arrested earlier this year after he had been doing drugs with friends and allegedly assaulted a woman when the pair were left alone.

He allegedly verbally abused her then grabbed a hammer and demanded she give him oral sex, but according to police, she was unwilling to give a statement to police.

Police told the court Choueri was unemployed and a daily methamphetamine user.

Lawyer Alex Frossinos pushed for Choueri to be granted bail under the supervision of the Court Integrated Services Program because delays caused by COVID-19 meant a hearing to contest the charges couldn’t be scheduled.

She said he could spend too long waiting in custody and could get treatment in the community, with his mum offering $5000 assurity for him on bail.

Leading Senior Constable Ken Marsh said it was “laughable” to think Choueri would start complying with court supervision.

He urged the court not to release Choueri on bail, saying he seemed to “enjoy assaulting women”.

Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said she was granting bail purely on the basis of delay, with a hearing unable to occur before February.

She ordered he return before her on October 1 for supervision and present weekly drug screens.

MORE: NAMED AND SHAMED: COVID-IOTS OF MELBOURNE’S NORTH

HOW COVID-19 HELPED AN ALLEGEDLY VIOLENT MAN GET BAIL

HOW A WOMAN THREATENED POLICE FOUR TIMES IN FOUR DAYS

serena.seyfort@news.com.au

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/anthony-choueri-kingsbury-dad-allegedly-brutally-assaults-women/news-story/91d0ae76862dc5072a3397644904c09a