Beerwah cafe owner Lyndon Wittingslow in Maroochydore court for alleged assault

A trial has started for a Sunshine Coast cafe owner accused of choking and assaulting his pregnant partner in broad daylight. Read the recounts from witnesses.

A Sunshine Coast business owner has denied punching and choking his then pregnant partner outside his Beerwah cafe after she presented to hospital with facial injuries.

Lyndon Wittingslow’s trial started in Maroochydore District Court on August 23, 2022 after he pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, choking and two counts of common assault.

The jury heard Mr Wittingslow’s fiancee at the time has accused him of cheating after going through his phone and finding messages from 10 women on February 8, 2020, just a few weeks after finding out they were pregnant.

The woman said in her evidence that she confronted Mr Wittingslow about the messages and he was “foaming at the mouth”.

Crown prosecutor Madalyn Olivero said the woman headed to work at Beerwah Dental on February 11 and went next door to ask to speak to Mr Wittingslow at his cafe The Fat Frenchman.

Lyndon Wittingslow is facing trial for an alleged assault of his pregnant fiance.

The pair went out the back into the carpark and the woman asked for her credit card back and money that he allegedly owed her.

“He (allegedly) headbutted her to her mouth area ... she was in shock,” Ms Olivero said.

“He then (allegedly) grabbed her around the neck with one hand and applied pressure, she struggled to breathe, he then punched her in the face causing an injury and she heard a loud crack from her nose.

“She thought to herself ‘I’m dead’.”

The complainant claimed she then fell backwards onto the concrete before he started “ragdolling” her.

A dental nurse at Beerwah Dental and the complainant’s colleague said she heard a scream and ran outside.

Lyndon Wittingslow is facing trial for an alleged assault of his pregnant fiance.

“Lyndon was walking towards (the complainant) in attack mode, gorilla mode ... she fell to the ground kicking and screaming,” the nurse said.

“I picked her up ... she told me that I’d saved her life.”

Ms Olivero said the complainant was taken to hospital where her injuries were documented which included grazes, bruising, swelling and a deviated nasal septum.

Mr Wittingslow said in his recorded interview with police that his fiancee had “hit him” and acknowledged he had pushed her as a result and she fell to the ground.

Defence barrister Mark Dixon told the jury that a video showing the physical altercation filmed from a garbage truck was not consistent with the complainant’s recount of the incident.

“She has told you of a violent assault ... the injuries depicted in those photos are not what you would expect of such an assault as described here,” Mr Dixon said.

Mr Dixon pointed out that the doctor when giving his evidence could not forensically date when the nasal deviation had occurred.

He also told the jury about the complaint’s criminal history of dishonesty and an assault of a man in her past before submitting that she was not an honest witness.

The trial is set to continue.

Originally published as Beerwah cafe owner Lyndon Wittingslow in Maroochydore court for alleged assault