A Wollongong father-of-two hired a hitman to bash his ex-partner after she told police he may have sexually assaulted their three-year-old daughter, a court has heard.
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The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly told the apparent fist-for-hire that he wanted the woman given ‘‘a good f--king belting’’ in order to ‘‘teach her a lesson’’.
‘‘Basically kick the f--k out of her for what she has done because I have zero tolerance for that kind of stuff,’’ he allegedly said during a meeting with the man at Figtree earlier this month.
‘‘I just want her done over, I don’t want her killed or anything, I just want her taught a f--king lesson.’’
Unbeknown to the father, the hired hitman was an undercover police operative, and officers were recording their entire conversation.
Port Kembla Local Court heard the alleged hit had been organised as payback for the woman claiming that her former partner may have molested their young daughter.
Police documents tendered during the man's bail application on Sunday said the woman went to police with her concerns in November after her daughter allegedly disclosed an incident that she claimed happened two days earlier.
However, officers dropped the case and the man was cleared of any wrongdoing after the child told police she had lied.
Two months later, the father expressed his frustration at what had occurred to a friend, allegedly saying he needed to "get rid of her [the woman] and her sister".
The friend contacted the alleged victim, saying they believed her former partner wanted her killed.
The woman contacted police.
The friend claimed the father spoke to him again about the alleged plot in early March, saying he had organised for a Samoan friend named Rocky to "sort this problem", which the friend took to mean having his former partner murdered.
The woman and her children were immediately placed in emergency housing to keep them safe.
The father met the undercover officer on March 11 and allegedly outlined his requirements for the hit, unaware police were listening.
"Situation is, the bitch has gone and accused me of being a peddy [paedophile] and interfering with my own daughter," he allegedly said.
"What I want done is I want her done over ... I don't want her dead, I want her taught a lesson."
"How do you want me to do it?" the undercover operative asked.
"A belting, a good f--king belting, but not in front of the kids," the father allegedly replied.
"She can't know it's come from me because that will f--k me over big time ... I'm going for custody [of the children]."
The father allegedly said he could supply the hitman with the woman's photo, a few addresses where she might be staying and her phone number, but he didn't want the hit to be able to be traced back to him.
Police claim the father said he could organise a cash payment of about "$400 to $500 straight up".
The two men left the location separately a short time later.
The father was arrested at the Helenic Club at Figtree on Saturday and charged with recruiting a person to help carry out criminal activity.
In a subsequent interview with detectives, he allegedly admitted to planning the assault as payback for the sexual assault allegation.
He was denied bail on Sunday amid fears for the alleged victim's safety if he was released.
The case will return to court at a later date.
