Police allege man hid in victim’s roof

A man who hid in his former partner’s roof before she woke to find him standing over her, allegedly with a knife, in the early hours of the morning has been refused bail.

The man appeared in Rockingham Magistrate’s Court via video link from Hakea Prison last Wednesday to face a string of charges.

During the bail application, the court was told that earlier this year, the man, who was separated from the mother of his two-year-old daughter, entered her home in Secret Harbour, took two beers from the fridge and then went up a manhole and hid in the roof for hours.

The victim returned home soon after, and in the early hours of the next morning, the man got out of the roof cavity and entered her room.

Police allege the victim awoke to the man standing over her with a knife and threatening her, before a scuffle occurred, in which he pulled her hair and threatened to kill her.

After speaking with the victim, he allowed her to go and check on their daughter who was asleep; however, she tried to grab her phone and call the police.

Police prosecutor Naomi Foster said in court that the man then allegedly told the victim to not call police and stop screaming, again threatening to kill her if she was not quiet.

In court, the man’s defence lawyer said that the victim had “misunderstood” the situation, and that he had fallen out of the manhole, and had only gone into her room to check that he had not scared her.

Although the man has pleaded guilty to breaching a family violence restraining order, his lawyer said he intended to plead not guilty to other charges, which include aggravated home burglary, deprivation of liberty, threatening to kill and aggravated unlawful assault.

He was also charged with stealing, in relation to the two beers he took up into the roof.

Magistrate Vivien Edwards refused bail, saying the safety of the victim and her daughter was paramount.