Police had been called to Sarah Gatt’s home for multiple reports of domestic violence before her murder, court hears

A mum who was murdered and dumped in a bathtub at her Kensington home was assaulted multiple times by her partner before he killed her, the Supreme Court has heard.

Police at Sarah Gatt’s Kensington home after her body was discovered. Picture: Aaron Francis

Slain mum Sarah Gatt called police over multiple assaults by her partner in the 2 ½ years before he killed her and left her body to rot in a bathtub, a court has heard.

A Supreme Court trial for Andrew Baker, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, on Wednesday heard from Victorian Police officers who had attended at Ms Gatt’s Kensington home following reports of domestic violence.

Officers were first called to the Lambeth St property on December 27, 2014.

They responded to a further report of assault at the house a month later on February 6, 2015.

That year, officers were again sent to the house following distressed Triple 0 calls by Ms Gatt on April 3, July 8, August 28 and December 19.

Ms Gatt had allegedly been assaulted by her partner multiple times before her murder.

Further calls and reports of family violence were made in 2016.

In one alleged attack, Ms Gatt reported to police she was pregnant and that Mr Baker had punched her to the face and kneed her in the stomach.

She told police, when reporting the August 2015 incident, Mr Baker had thrown a brick at her home and threatened to kill her and her then partner, who was inside with her.

Detective Senior Constable Jacqueline Bertalli, who took Ms Gatt’s statement, told the court Ms Gatt showed her messages on her phone that were sent to her when she refused to go outside to speak to Mr Baker.

A press conference held after Ms Gatt’s death. Picture: AAP

A voice-to-text voicemail she received at 11.16am, said: “OK slut watch out we’ll come through the window cos you won’t be leaving there either.”

Then a text message, all in capital letters, came through, starting with “You’re dead” and calling her a “fucken lyer (sic)” and “whore”.

“You reakon (sic) I stole of (sic) you,” the message continued.

“Wait until house goes up in flames.”

The court heard the phone the messages were coming from was registered to Mr Baker’s friend Justin Gabriele, who was outside Ms Gatt’s house with him.

“Those messages are alleged to have been sent by the accused or at the direction of the accused or at least in the company of the accused,” prosecutor John Dickie said.

But despite the repeated calls to Triple 0, Ms Gatt never wanted Mr Baker charged.

Officers who attended the house reported her as being erratic and drug-affected.

They said she changed her story multiple times about what had occurred.

Mr Dickie said there was a pattern that the couple repeatedly reconciled.

Their relationship remained on-and-off up until April 2017, when Mr Baker is accused of violently killing Ms Gatt, 39.

Mr Dickie said Mr Baker continued with his daily life, collecting Ms Gatt’s Centrelink payments, while her remains were in the bathtub, concealed by household items.

Police made the gruesome discovery eight months later on January 3, 2018.

Trent Mitchell, an associate of Mr Baker, told the court how the accused had told him different stories to explain Ms Gatt’s absence in late 2017.

In one discussion, he said Mr Baker told him that she was in a psych ward at a hospital, and in another he described how her head had gone through a window.

But later, he recalled Mr Baker saying “she’d run off with another sheila”.

“He was pretty pissed off she had run off with a lesbian,” Mr Mitchell said.

“He also said he wished the C-U-N-T (spelling out the word as he wasn’t sure he could say it in court) was dead.”

The trial, before Justice Jane Dixon, continues.