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ABC News
ABC News
National
court reporter Claire Campbell

Court grants accused murderer Antony Ogar permission to go on weekly shopping trips

Antony Ogar was granted home detention bail earlier this year.  (ABC News: Evelyn Manfield)

An Adelaide court has allowed a man accused of murdering his wife weekly visits to a hardware store so he can continue building a house, despite the court previously hearing the former army veteran could be a danger to the community.

Antony Ogar, 59, is accused of murdering 37-year-old Cherry Gerente Ogar at their Port Hughes home last July.

Ms Ogar died from blunt-force head injuries which the court previously heard were some of the worst that emergency services had ever seen.

Mr Ogar was granted home-detention bail earlier this year after the court heard he was "a decorated member of the Australian Defence Force" and was acting in self-defence.

Mr Ogar is contesting the murder charge and made an application in the Adelaide Magistrates Court for no case to answer.

But on Monday, his lawyer asked the court to order a report to vary his home-detention bail so he could visit Bunnings every Friday for up to three hours, as well as attend a Uniting Church service on Sundays.

Magistrate Simon Smart asked why Mr Ogar could not buy what he needed online.

Cherry Gerente Ogar died from head injuries in July last year.  (Facebook)

The court heard Mr Ogar had a trade account and needed to visit the store in person as his house was a "work in progress" and he needed "to purchase items for the upkeep of the house".

Prosecutors told the court they had concerns with the bail variation because the Corrections Department had refused the request and they did not know the reasons why.

Magistrate Smart approved the variation of Mr Ogar's bail without ordering a report on the condition he travel directly to the location by the quickest route and not stop anywhere else.

He also banned Mr Ogar from having any contact, directly or indirectly, with Ms Ogar's daughter.

Antony Ogar leaving the Adelaide Magistrates Court today.  (ABC News: Claire Campbell)

Accused has anger-management problems, court told

The court previously heard Mr Ogar had a history of domestic violence and anger-management problems that could put the community at risk.

"It is evident in no less than 14 statements from civilians that the defendant has an uncontrolled anger problem," prosecutor Kirby Draper told the court in January.

"There is a severe verbal abuse … he's going to Service SA, he's gone to the bottle shop, the landlord.

"We also have a statement from a previous partner whereby there is severe domestic violence."

Mr Ogar's lawyer, Martin Anders, previously told the court Mr Ogar was acting in self-defence and his "detailed and comprehensive narratives" were "entirely consistent with his innocence".

He told the court previously that Ms Ogar was "drunk, she fell, he assisted her into bed, he then contacts triple-0, he accompanies her to the Wallaroo hospital and indeed he's sitting in the waiting room when he was arrested".

"That's the extent of it," Mr Anders told the court.

"No weapon alleged to have been found."

Mr Anders told the court in January that his client's "distinguished career" in the military — including deployments in New Zealand, Cambodia, Somali, East Timor and Afghanistan — made him a good candidate for home detention, he had cooperated with police and there was no risk of interference with the investigation.

The matter returns to court in June.

Mr Ogar has been remanded on continuing home-detention bail which bans him from drinking alcohol or taking drugs and requires he live alone at the property.

The Port Hughes home where Cherry Gerente Ogar lived with Antony Ogar. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)
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