Darwin food business owner faces Supreme Court for domestic violence rape, assault charges

The man behind a Top End food business is facing trial for eleven counts of domestic violence, including alleged rape and attacks with cooking implements.

The owner of a Darwin food business is standing trial charged with domestic violence rapes of two women, making a threat to kill with a kitchen knife and aggravated assault with barbecue tongs.

At the start of the two-and-a-half week Supreme Court trial on Monday, the man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his alleged victims, pleaded not guilty to the 11 allegations made against him.

During the Crown’s opening statement the jury heard the man came to Darwin entering into a relationship with a woman who helped him navigate local bureaucracy to set up his business in the Top End.

In the first incident it was alleged the pair were driving together on September 4, 2019, when the man became “upset and enraged”.

“(He) started to drive very erratically whilst banging his head against the steering wheel and swerving,” prosecutor Ian Rowbottam said.

Mr Rowbottam said the man became “very reliant” on the woman’s help with the business.

“She was not being paid in any way, shape or form commensurate with her role in the business and decided to go back to work for herself … that led to a lot of acrimony between the two,” he said.

The jury heard that twice while preparing food together the man allegedly threatened to kill the woman while holding a knife, at one point saying “I’ll kill you and then I’ll kill myself”.

The business owner is facing a two and a half week trial after pleading not guilty to 11 charges. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

It was also alleged that in December 2019 he went to her home and let himself in while she was sleeping, using a door she had propped open for her dog.

“He asked why she hadn’t been to his house recently, and she suggested she was frightened of him,” Mr Rowbottam said.

It was alleged the man then proceeded to rape the woman.

She was reluctant to go to the police, the court heard, but disclosed what she alleged had happened to a friend who then went to the authorities due to the Territory’s mandatory reporting laws.

After that woman left Darwin, the man found a new partner and allegedly badgered her for anal sex which she repeatedly refused.

Mr Rowbottam told the jury that on February 28, 2021, he went to his new partner’s bedroom and again asked for sex.

“The Crown case is it was refused – despite this, and knowing she was not consenting, he proceeded to have anal intercourse with her,” he said.

In the week following the pair’s relationship was “difficult” and “rancorous”, and a text argument ended with the women telling him to “never contact her again”, Mr Rowbottam said.

Despite this, the man allegedly went to the home where she lived and assaulted her with kitchen tongs, feigning punches at her face.

He then allegedly took her into a bedroom and raped her again.

The trial continues this week with the jury expected to hear from the alleged victims, friends, police and medical personnel.

Originally published as Darwin food business owner faces Supreme Court for domestic violence rape, assault charges