Police searching for a woman who failed to turn up to court found her being held against her will inside her boyfriend's Mangerton home, prosecutors will allege.
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Joshua James Weir stands accused of viciously bashing the woman and leaving her bruised and bloodied, languishing on a mattress on the floor of his Myuna Way apartment after preventing her from leaving the home for at least 24 hours.
Weir was arrested last week and charged with detaining a person against their will and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
He applied for bail in Wollongong Local Court but it was refused on account of the seriousness of the allegations and his prior criminal record.
Court documents said the victim was at Weir's home on March 16 when she attempted to leave to attend Port Kembla for an unrelated court matter.
However, police will allege Weir became angry and agitated and prevented her from leaving.
He allegedly began assaulting the woman, punching her in the face with both fists then stomping on her head multiple times after she fell onto a nearby mattress on the floor.
The woman later told police Weir prevented her from leaving the apartment and held her against her will, allegedly forcing her to swallow a handful of pills to prove she wasn't trying to poison him.
Police will allege Weir kept the woman in his unit overnight, then again prevented her from leaving the following day.
At one stage he put her in a bath in an attempt to clean her up, police claim.
Meanwhile, police attended Weir's home that afternoon in possession of an arrest warrant for the woman, which had been issued in court the previous day when she failed to show up.
Officers entered the unit to discover the woman lying on the mattress, dressed only in a towel.
They said her movements were laboured and she struggled to speak or lift her head.
When police asked if she was being held against her will, the woman allegedly nodded her head.
Weir was arrested and taken to Wollongong Police Station, while the woman was taken to hospital for treatment.
Weir allegedly denied inflicting any injuries on the woman, telling police he had found her in that state in the hallway of the unit block.
He claimed she had told him she'd fallen down some stairs.
However, police described the woman's injuries as "horrific", saying they were not consistent with a fall down a flight of stairs.
Weir was remanded in custody. The case will return to court next month.
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