A young woman accused of luring a man to an apartment where he was allegedly bashed with a kettlebell and sexually assaulted is set to face justice again after fleeing her first trial.
Jasmine Agostini, 23, is accused of taking part in an alleged series of violent acts which are too graphic to publish in detail.
Agostini was scolded for her “erratic” behaviour of fleeing court.Credit: Facebook
A recent bail hearing in the NSW Supreme Court heard Agostini was with two men at a Berkeley unit in Wollongong’s southern suburbs on September 2, 2022, when she lured over a man she knew intimately under the pretence of selling him drugs.
He was then allegedly beaten over the head with a kettlebell, knocked to the floor and sexually assaulted with a frying pan.
In refusing Agostini bail, Justice Desmond Fagan said it was alleged she “was part of a joint criminal enterprise to carry out those offences of violence”.
The court heard Agostini was first arrested two days after the alleged crimes and remained in custody until being granted bail 2½ months later.
Detention applications were made when police found her missing several times from the address she was ordered to stay under her bail conditions.
However, she remained on bail until her trial began at Wollongong District Court in August 2024. Fagan said that five days into the trial, Agostini “absented herself and could not be located”.
“Judge Haesler [the trial judge] exercised his discretion to abort the trial and issued a bench warrant,” he said.
Eight days later, Agostini was rearrested and has remained locked up since. Her new trial has been set for later this year.
Fagan said Agostini’s risk of breaching bail was unacceptable, no conditions could ameliorate that risk, and the court’s administration of justice “cannot be placed at the mercy of the erratic conduct of an applicant such as this”.
Agostini has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault in company and depriving liberty, aggravated robbery and inflicting actual bodily harm, kidnapping in company occasioning actual bodily harm, stealing from a person and possessing a prohibited drug.
Her case will return to court in May.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.