Benjamin Reddaway: Carrum Downs brute’s ‘roid rage attack

A pumped-up Carrum Downs tradie thug pulled his naked partner by her hair down the stairs, choked her and threw her into a wardrobe.

A tradie thug pulled his partner down the stairs by her hair, choked her and threw her into a wardrobe. Generic image

A ‘roid-raging woman-bashing builder took his anger out on his girlfriend simply because he didn’t want to spend the day with her, a court has heard.

Benjamin Reddaway viciously attacked his then partner in a terrifying act of aggression which only ended because a neighbour had heard her cries for help.

The Carrum Downs 35-year-old was also found with steroids, knuckle dusters and a stash of gel blasters, and on another occasion was caught drug-driving while high on ice.

He pleaded guilty to reckless cause injury, weapons, imitation firearms and driving charges at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The court heard Reddaway’s partner had spent the night at his Carrum Downs home on January 11 this year.

When she woke up she saw he was about to leave the house, despite the couple having planned to spend the day together.

She was upset about this and said she was going to leave him.

Enraged, Reddaway confronted her and threw her into a bedroom wardrobe, knocking the door off its railings.

He then choked her, squeezing her throat for around 10 seconds before dragging the woman, who was unclothed, down the stairs by her hair.

A neighbour had heard the commotion and came to the front door, and Reddaway let her go.

She then left and went to see a doctor for treatment for carpet burns to her back, bruises and abrasions across her body and soreness around her neck.

Later police came and arrested Reddaway, who denied injuring her and said he had acted “in self-defence”.

In March police raided his house, finding several gel blaster guns, a set of knuckle dusters and a blister pack of steroid tablets.

He wasn’t there at the time, and officers didn’t catch up with him until April when he was arrested with two small bags of ice in his pocket and remanded in custody.

He was also nabbed drug-driving in Frankston in October 2019.

Reddaway’s defence lawyer Adam Maloney said this was his first time in custody for his client, who had been heavily involved with ice since he was 19.

He said his job as a builder was being left open for him to go back to whenever he is released, and he had family support on the outside.

So far he has spent 68 days behind bars.

Magistrate Charles Tan said he won’t be releasing him today and ordered he be assessed for a community corrections order.

“He threw the woman into a wardrobe and then dragged her by her hair down the stairs,” Mr Tan said.

Reddaway will be sentenced at a later date.