An alleged domestic abuser could be kicked out of Australia after accusations he choked and threatened to kill his partner during an eight-month "sustained" course of violence.
The Turkish man, who The Canberra Times has chosen not to name to protect the identity of his alleged victim, fronted the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday.
His Legal Aid lawyer Chris Brown said his client denied eight charges, including four counts of common assault, choking, and making a reckless threat to kill.
Prosecutor Madison Fieldus said the charges stemmed from several incidents that happened between April and December 2019.
She said the first, on April 23, involved the man punching a hole in a bathroom door and breaking a television screen.
In July, he allegedly slapped his partner and punched her in the face, and, on December 22, dragged her from a bathroom by her hair.
Ms Fieldus said the alleged victim sprayed the man in the face with an aerosol can to try to get him to stop the assault, but he sprayed her back before he held her down and applied pressure to her neck.
The prosecutor said when the woman told her partner "I can't breathe", he responded by saying, "I'm going to kill you", and put a pillow over her face before she escaped.
Ms Fieldus said the man seemed unperturbed when the woman's family members were nearby during assaults - when he allegedly choked his partner, her brother was in the next room - and his "protracted" course of conduct included escalating violence.
She said the alleged victim was the man's sponsor for his visa, and the woman had applied to retract that sponsorship; a cause for concern given the man had threatened to kill himself and her if she ever withdrew the sponsorship.
Mr Brown said his client had no criminal history, and did not know where his alleged victim lived since she'd relocated out of the ACT.
He said the man could live with a friend in O'Connor, and work with him at Ottoman Cuisine in Barton.
But Magistrate Beth Campbell said there was still a chance the man could locate his alleged victim. She remanded the man in custody until his next court date, March 23.
