An aspiring actor, singer and underwear model will fight allegations he bashed his fiancee during a heated argument at a North Wollongong apartment on Sunday morning.
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Nicholas Bardsley, a 32-year-old promotions model who once played a criminal on parole in the ABC TV legal drama Rake, is accused of kneeing the woman twice in the stomach after grabbing her by the hair and throwing her on the bed inside their Virginia Street unit just before 10.30am.
The woman allegedly grabbed Bardsley by the testicles in a bid to break free from his grasp, prompting Bardsley to put his arm around her neck and squeeze her throat, court documents said.
It is alleged Bardsley then pushed the woman into the wall and told her “I really need to not want to kill you right now.”
The woman left the unit. Bardsley kept contacting the woman via and leaving intimidating and threatening messages, some of which were recorded, police allege.
The woman later told police Bardsley had threatened to “pay someone $500” to kill her and members of her family.
She reported the matter on Sunday, however returned to Wollongong Police Station 24 hours later wanting to retract her statement, claiming it had been a lie.
Despite this, Bardsley was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with breaching an apprehended violence order, assault, intimidation and property damage.
In court on Tuesday, defence lawyer James Howell entered not guilty pleas to the charges and sought Bardsley’s release on bail.
He said Bardsley would argue he was in Sutherland at the time of the alleged offences.
Police opposed Bardsley’s release on account of the woman’s apparent vulnerability.
“The [alleged] victim was not in a position to protect herself from the onslaught of violence and intimidation by the accused,” prosecutor Shannon Ryan said.
Magistrate Susan McGowan refused bail and adjourned the case to May 29 for hearing.
“The allegations are alarming,” she said.
