A high-profile restaurateur is alleged to have choked a woman – leaving her with a “croaky” voice and visible marks on her neck – before dragging her by the hair through his house and assaulting her, a court has been told.
Richard Edwin Selkirk Pace was granted bail following a brief application at Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday.
Mr Pace, a prominent hospitality figure in the Noosa community, has been in custody since his arrest on December 18.
Richard Edwin Selkirk Pace is facing serious charges related to the alleged choking and assault of a woman in her 20s earlier in December. Picture: Facebook
The court was told the alleged offences occurred against a woman in her 20s in the early hours of the morning.
Mr Pace, 48, is accused of getting into a verbal argument with the woman, before it turned physical, when he allegedly grabbed her throat for about 10 seconds, restricting her ability to breathe.
Supreme Court Justice David Boddice said Mr Pace was then alleged to have dragged the woman by her hair through the bedroom and down some stairs.
He then allegedly punched her in the head and face.
During a bail application, the court was told the woman was left with a croaky voice and marks on her neck after Pace’s (pictured) alleged assault. Picture: Facebook
“It is alleged when police attended the scene that morning, they found the complainant crying with a croaky voice and marks on her neck,” Justice Boddice said.
“(She allegedly) had a swollen face and grazes on her knee.”
Mr Pace is facing charges which include choking/suffocation and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
He is also accused of resisting police who arrested him.
Bail was not opposed by the prosecution, with Mr Pace’s lawyer submitting his client could abide a strict no contact order and abstain from alcohol or drugs, among other conditions.
Justice Boddice also imposed a curfew between 8pm and 5am, allowing exceptions for Mr Pace to continue his work.