Three men charged over alleged hostage incident

Three men are in custody after an alleged incident in which a man was held hostage in a Bunbury home over a drug debt.

The details were revealed in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court last week when one of the men allegedly behind the incident was refused bail over concerns he knew where the victim and his family lived and that he would interfere with the police investigation.

Daniel Benham Page, 33, of East Bunbury, has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and detaining another with intent to gain a benefit after he allegedly held the 31-year-old victim in his home for more than an hour.

Daniel Ashley Turner, 37, of Bunbury, has also been charged with detaining another, and Kris Iloski, 32, of Brunswick, has been charged with similar charges along with a string of drugs and weapons offences.

During Mr Page’s court appearance, his lawyer Kathryn Flanagan argued that he should be released on bail because he denied “orchestrating or participating” in the alleged incident and he would be unable to support his young family while behind bars.

The court was told, the victim went to the Picton Road home to buy drugs before he was allegedly assaulted and detained.

Police allege the man was punched and kneed to the head before what was believed a firearm was pushed at his head.

The victim was allegedly moved between several rooms in the house, told to keep his head down and given a mobile phone and told to arrange money to pay off his debt.

Police say the alleged attackers then used a baseball bat to hit the victim on his arms and legs.

The court was told the attackers saw police cars driving past the home on closed-circuit TV cameras and told the victim they would kill him if he told police, with police alleging Mr Page said “if I go to jail, you’re dead”.

Police eventually arrived at the home and found the victim in a rear shed at the property with Mr Page arrested in the backyard.

The victim was taken to hospital with a fractured forearm and bruising and swelling to several parts of his body.

Ms Flanagan said the victim had turned up at the home uninvited and Mr Page denied any drugs were bought or consumed at the property.

Magistrate Belinda Coleman said the incident was “extremely” serious and she was not satisfied Mr Page would not interfere if released on bail.

All three men were remanded in custody to reappear at a later date.