Man guilty of “nasty assault” on pregnant girlfriend denied bail on alleged restraint breach

A South West man who previously assaulted his then-pregnant ex-parter and left her unconscious has been denied bail after he allegedly breached a family violence restraining order to see her. Nathaniel Claude Furniss appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court last week to apply for bail after police allegedly caught him meeting up with his ex-partner in Bridgetown on March 31 — a breach of the FVRO in place from February 12. Mr Furniss justified the alleged breach by telling police: “I care about her too much”. He was recently sentenced to a 15-month suspended jail term after an aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm against his ex-partner and two counts of breaching protective bail provisions. The court was told the aggravated assault took place on January 31 when Mr Furniss and the victim, who was pregnant at the time, had an argument over differing views on whether to keep the baby. The victim then asked Mr Furniss to leave several times before the incident spiralled into a verbal argument, which moved into the kitchen when Mr Furniss demanded she write a note to say he would have nothing to do with the baby and not be on the birth certificate. Mr Furniss struck the victim on her temple during the argument, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious. He then put her in a recovery position and left, while the victim’s brother called the police after witnessing the incident. Mr Furniss was arrested on February 1 and released on bail with protective conditions, which he later breached on February 6 and 7. The breaches both involved Mr Furniss verbally abusing the victim — the first when he attended her home at 11pm because he was suspicious she was cheating, and then again the next morning for the same reason. Magistrate Benjamin Tyers said the conditions of the FVRO would have been made clear to Mr Furniss at the sentencing for the “nasty assault”. He said he had “no confidence” Mr Furniss would abide by any bail conditions and denied the request. Mr Furniss is expected to enter a plea for one count of breaching a FVRO and possession of a prohibited drug and drug paraphernalia at his next appearance on April 29.