A MAN accused of choking a woman in a public toilet until she "passed out", dragging her into a car, assaulting and threatening her and then driving her around until she jumped from the moving vehicle has been refused bail in Newcastle Local Court.
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Luke Gore, 29, is alleged to have posted a reward on Facebook to help locate the woman, first offering $1,000 for any information about her whereabouts and then upping the amount to $5,000.
He located her in a public toilet at Singleton on November 18, police say.
Mr Gore appeared in court on Monday charged with 10 offences, including two counts of choking, two counts of intimidation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and kidnapping.
He did not enter any pleas, but applied for bail with defence barrister Isabel Reed telling Magistrate Susan Horan that if granted bail Mr Gore could report daily to police, live with his mother and would not have any contact with the alleged victim.
Mr Gore was arrested in Hunter Street, Newcastle, on Saturday morning by officers attached to the Northern Domestic Violence High Risk Offender Team.
Police had been looking for Mr Gore since November 18, when a woman said she was choked "until she passed out" in a public toilet in Bridgman Road, Singleton.
Mr Gore is accused of "randomly turning up" while the woman was at the toilet block, choking her and threatening to kill her, Newcastle Local Court heard on Monday.
"He then allegedly dragged her into a motor vehicle, detains her, takes her out of the area and they go through the drive through at Singleton McDonald's," police prosecutor Sergeant Lyn Palywoda told Ms Horan.
Police have said the woman was threatened with a hammer and driven to the nearby McDonald's, where she jumped out of the moving vehicle and alerted restaurant staff, who called police.
Magistrate Horan said the allegations were "very concerning" and there were no bail conditions that could mitigate the risk Mr Gore posed to the community.
She refused him bail and adjourned the matter until February 3.