Ipswich’s Jesse Charles Hallett granted bail for assault charge against his pregnant partner

An Ipswich man accused of assaulting his pregnant partner has been granted bail, after charges accusing him of attempting to kill the unborn baby were dropped.

Jesse Hallett is charged with assaulting his pregnant partner. Picture: FaceBook

A young man accused of assaulting his pregnant partner will return to the Ipswich community after spending over a year in custody on remand.

Jesse Charles Hallett, 21, was charged last September with a number of domestic violence charges including assault occasioning bodily harm, attempted unlawful assault of a pregnant female, written threats to murder, stalking, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

The court heard at Mr Hallett‘s first bail application on September 16, 2022, that police would allege he had assaulted his pregnant partner with intent to kill her unborn child when she was eight weeks pregnant.

Mr Hallett was denied bail at the time and has spent the past 385 days in custody on remand.

At this stage, Mr Hallett’s only remaining charges are assault occasioning bodily harm (DV) and written threats to murder (DV).

The other charges, including the intent to kill, have been dropped.

At Mr Hallett’s second bail application on October 5, 2023, the Ipswich District Court heard Mr Hallett and his former partner were no longer together.

The court heard they had no reason to see each other as the child was never born.

There was no suggestion that the ceased pregnancy was in any way related to the allegations against Mr Hallett.

Defence lawyer Emily Fackender indicated her client was taking the assault charge to trial.

She suggested that even if the Crown’s case was taken at its highest, Mr Hallett might be in danger of spending too much time in custody.

Crown prosecutor David Rigby said Mr Hallett posed a risk of reoffending or fleeing, noting the four breaches of bail and five fails to appear on his criminal history.

Mr Rigby stressed that the alleged threats to murder were “extremely alarming”.

He said they included messages from Mr Hallett saying he was “on his way now with a loaded sawn off”.

“I’ll be there now,” Mr Rigby continued quoting.

Judge Nicole Kefford noted Mr Hallett had not yet experienced the “joy of being in custody” and its deterrent effect at the time of his bail breaches and fails to appear.

She said the fact there was no ongoing relationship between Mr Hallett and his former partner reduced her concerns about his risk of offending.

Judge Kefford granted Mr Hallett bail and adjourned the matter to October 24 for mention.

Originally published as Ipswich’s Jesse Charles Hallett granted bail for assault charge against his pregnant partner