A man accused of breaking into an Aldinga Beach home and biting and punching a woman’s face, as her children hid behind a bathroom door, has been refused bail.
Key points:
- The victim was taken to hospital for treatment
- The magistrate said the accused was intoxicated at the time of the assault
- The 22-year-old man was refused bail
Police allege Jesse Michael Normandale entered the Lovelock Street house through an unlocked front door and then walked through the dining area, where he assaulted the woman on Saturday night.
Paramedics treated her at the scene and then transferred her to the Flinders Medical Centre for treatment.
The 22-year-old has been charged with trespassing and aggravated assault.
Mr Normandale is yet to enter a plea to the charges, but his lawyers applied for bail in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court yesterday.
Magistrate Lynette Duncan said she had considered the defendant’s youth, his lack of criminal history, his lack of memory and his intoxication at the time.
However, Magistrate Duncan said she could not grant the accused “special circumstances” and refused the bail application.
The magistrate referenced the current major emergency period created by the pandemic and the nature of the aggravated trespass.
“Of course, one of the reasons for that is that people are spending a lot more time at home during the current pandemic,” the magistrate said.
“By way of a stranger entering a person’s home when children are present, attacking and injuring her with her children barricading themselves in another room and in fact the woman ultimately fighting off the offender.”
Magistrate Duncan said the offence was unusual, and also unusual in its gravity.
Mr Normandale will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in July.
