Nowra man Steven Matthew Lonesborough has confessed to repeatedly threatening to kill a man he met online while holding him hostage inside his car for several hours during an apparent drug-induced mania.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The victim, who told police the pair had met through a mobile app in April 2019, was so terrified of what Lonesborough might do to him he risked his own life to jump from the moving car as it slowed to negotiate a roundabout in Haywards Bay in the early hours of October 12 last year.
But that time, the victim had already been subjected to hours of physical and verbal abuse from an erratic and paranoid Lonesborough, who believed the man was responsible for divulging private information about him to his family.
Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court reveal Lonesborough and the victim met up in Wollongong two days earlier and Lonesborough had driven them back to his home in Nowra.
They spent more than a day together before Lonesborough left the house, leaving the victim alone for several hours.
Lonesborough returned to the house just after midnight on October 12 and appeared to be "wired, energetic and a bit irritated" and was speaking incoherently.
The victim said he wanted to return to Wollongong and Lonesborough eventually agreed to drive him.
However, less than half an hour into the drive Lonesborough confronted the victim about speaking to his family.
The victim repeatedly told Lonesborough he'd never met his family, but Lonesborough refused to believe him and demanded to know who was involved in the gossip plot.
At one stage, Lonesborough put his hand on the victim's seatbelt buckle and said "tell me the truth now or I will crash this car and unbuckle your seatbelt and kill you. I'll crash this car and with no seatbelt I'll smash your skull straight through the windshield".
The victim again denied any knowledge of what Lonesborough was talking about, prompting Lonesborough to reiterate his threat: "you must tell me or I will f--king kill you".
The victim told police Lonesborough continued the behaviour as they drove up the highway, intermittently stopping the car to interrogate him and at one stage punched him in the mouth.
As they neared Haywards Bay, Lonesborough stopped the car again and the victim tried to get out of the vehicle, prompting Lonesborough to tell him "I will drag you out of the car, tie you to a power pole and beat you to death".
Terrified and knowing Lonesborough wanted the identity of the "other person involved" in the gossip ring, the victim made up a name.
Lonesborough demanded to know the man's address and told the victim "it's either you or this guy that will die tonight....I will take you there and make you watch me kill him".
The victim made his daring escape just minutes later, leaping from the car and landing on his back, grazing his arm, back and legs.
The victim started screaming for help and managed to alert a neighbour, who later told police the man was "hysterical and very distressed".
The victim told the woman "he's been driving me around all night, he wouldn't let me go from the car. He went crazy after he smoked grass, he thought I told his family that he was doing bad things".
The victim was taken to Wollongong Hospital and gave a statement to police after seeking treatment.
Meanwhile, Lonesborough's vehicle was spotted at a service station in Yallah around 8.30am.
Detectives who attended the scene said Lonesborough appeared dishevelled and was seen "frothing at the mouth" in an apparent drug-affected state.
He was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment before being taken to Wollongong Police Station and charged with detaining a person with intent to obtain a psychological advantage while inflicting actual bodily harm.
Lonesborough pleaded guilty to the charge in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday.
He remains in custody without bail and will face court again later this month for a sentencing date to be set.