An alleged “high risk” abuser is facing court accused over a week of domestic violence-related incidents.
A 31-year-old woman has told police she was assaulted and intimidated by a man known to her in a Warners Bay home, about 25 minutes southwest of Newcastle in NSW, late last month.
Hours after that late-night assault, she says she was threatened with a knife, NSW Police said
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“Over the coming days, the man allegedly sent harassing text messages to the woman,” police said.
The woman then reported the incidents to police, prompting an investigation involving the Hunter High Risk Domestic Violence Offender Team.
A 30-year-old man from Warners Bay was arrested on Tuesday.
He was charged with domestic violence-related assault occasioning actual bodily harm (and common assault, two counts of stalk/intimidate, being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, and using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend. He remains before the courts.
NSW Police officers lay flowers at a vigil remembering victims of domestic violence. Credit: 7NEWS The charges come as NSW Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said a “sobering” number of people, “largely women and children … have had their right to safety taken from them”.
More than 38,000 people reported domestic and family-violence related assaults to police in 2024 alone.
And 39 women were killed in domestic violence incidents that same year.
Candlelight vigils mourning those women are set to be held around Australia on National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day on Wednesday.
“They are women whose absence continues to be mourned,” Harrison said.
There has been a 30 per cent increase in domestic violence murders in the last few years in Australia, Full Stop Australia CEO Karen Bevan said.
“On average, a woman dies every seven days because of domestic and family violence,” she said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are eight times more likely to become domestic violence victims.
Family members of murdered victims, including one woman who only wanted to be identified as Kylie, called the day of remembrance for their loved ones “an important day”.
Kylie said on behalf of Australian Voices for the Silenced: “Remembrance is not just about honouring the past, it is about the future.
“In our loved one’s name we demand justice for those who are silenced, and accountability in a system where there are giant chasms that are costing lives.”