A survivor of domestic violence who almost abandoned her pursuit of justice has been vindicated in court, after a Wollongong magistrate found her evidence "strong, powerful and cogent", and proof enough that a sickening knife attack had taken place behind closed doors.
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The woman threatened to walk from Wollongong Courthouse partway through giving evidence on Monday afternoon, after she came under cross-examination.
"I can't do this Your Honour," she said. "He [the defence lawyer] is really making me angry. I just don't want to be here. That's it - I'm not coming back into the courtroom."
She was able to return to the stand after a short break.
The court heard the woman was in an on-off relationship with Wayne Austin Ellis when homelessness caused her to stay at his Corrimal home on October 5 last year.
Ellis, 50, searched her phone while she was in the shower then confronted her over messages from other men, growing enraged when she went to leave.
"He said, you're not going to just f---ing leave," she told the court on Monday. "Then he comes and lunges at me, holds me down like he always does, and I couldn't breathe and he's yelling in my ear - 'f---ing slut' ... I told him, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe'."
The woman saw Ellis's raised fist, but not the knife he was holding, which caused her a head wound that would later bleed heavily, requiring nine stitches.
"I'd gone to the other end of the bedroom. That's when I felt the knock," she said.
"It felt like a punch, but it was a slash. I said, 'what the f--- have you done?'. Then he just put the knife on the bed."
A neighbour who heard the commotion dialed triple-0.
Meantime, Ellis went to find something for the woman to wrap around her bleeding head, and began attempts at reconciliation.
"He was talking about how he loves me and how I should understand how hurt he is," the woman said.
Footage from a body-worn police camera, played in court, captured the moment Ellis was discovered hiding on his balcony and placed under arrest, soon afterwards.
In court Tuesday, Magistrate Mark Douglass noted Ellis' victim had struggled with some details on the witness stand "in relation to memory and retelling her version".
But her record of intervew [taken immediately after the wounding]... "was honest, concise and persuasive," he said.
Ellis maintained his innocence throughout court proceedings, claiming the woman had fallen on a knife that had been lying on the bed, and that this must have caused her injury.
He did not give evidence in court, but relied on a statement he gave to police, which the magistrate described as "glib".
"His manner and his answers to questions were not expansive," Magistrate Douglass said.
Ellis was found guilty of reckless wounding, but not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, a charge relating to injuries found elsewhere on the woman's body. The court found the prosecution had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that Ellis was responsible for these.
Ellis will return to court for sentencing on August 28.
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
