An Illawarra man due to stand trial next year over the death of his sex-worker girlfriend, whose hog-tied body was found in a wheelie bin inside her Woonona home in 2011, has been refused court bail to visit his dying mother.
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David William Bagster was arrested in October last year and charged with manslaughter over the death of Valmai Jane Birch, whose decomposing body was found upside down in a wheelie bin partially filled with water in the shower recess of her Woods Avenue apartment in March 2011.
Police were called to the home by neighbours who reported a foul stench coming from inside the property. Birch is believed to have died up to two weeks earlier.
Forensic pathologists were unable to determine Ms Birch's cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition of her body, but said there were no obvious internal or external injuries.
Bagster was interviewed at the time but released without charge, however re-arrested at his Kiama Heights home on October 1.
He has remained behind bars ever since and the case was committed for trial in June, with a trial date set for February next year.
However, Bagster made an application for bail in Wollongong District Court on Friday on compassionate grounds, with his barrister, Scott Fraser, saying Bagster's mother was dying.
"His mother is sadly very ill, she's been moved to palliative care at Shellharbour Hospital," he said.
"It's apparent her health has deteriorated significantly in the past year since Mr Bagster has been in custody. It's possible that Mr Bagster will never see his mother again [if he is refused bail]."
Mr Fraser said his client's father, Lindsey Bagster, would agree to house his son at their Kiama home, drive him to and from daily reporting to Lake Illawarra Police Station and accompany him any time he left the house, as well as lodge a $4,000 bail surety.
Mr Fraser said Bagster would also agree to a condition prohibiting him from using drugs or alcohol while on bail, and would accept an enforcement condition that would allow police to turn up at his house to carry out surprise drug and alcohol testing to ensure compliance.
However, Judge John Hatzistergos refused to release Bagster, finding he posed an unacceptable risk of committing further offences and endangering the safety of the community.
In handing down his decision, Judge Hatzistergos noted Bagster had an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1980s, which included breaches of previous court orders.
He said the case against Bagster "appeared reasonable" at face value, although accepted that the reliability of some of the witnesses, many of whom were drug-using associates of Bagster and Ms Birch at the time, would be a significant issue during the trial.
The Mercury understand the Crown will allege Ms Birch met Bagster through a mutual friend in May 2010 and the pair allegedly became an item, but that their "on/off" relationship was marred by drug use and acts of domestic violence, including Bagster tying Ms Birch up and putting her in confined spaces.
Police will allege Birch repeatedly confided in friends and associates before her death that Bagster, was "into bondage and discipline" and often tied her up for long periods of time and restrained her against her will.
However, Bagster denied they were together when interviewed. He allegedly admitted they regularly engaged in "group sex" and threesomes, but claimed he'd never tied her up or assaulted her.
The Crown will allege police discovered Bagster's fingerprints on the inside of the upper lip of the recycling bin in which Ms Birch's body was found, which they will claim is consistent with the bin being grabbed to lift or manoeuvre it when it couldn't be pushed or pulled.
But Bagster allegedly told police he occasionally moved Birch's wheelie bin when washing it and must have left his prints on it.
