A court has heard a man became angry about the name on his birth certificate before allegedly assaulting his wife in their home in northern Tasmania.
Daniel Victor Gandini is charged with three counts of assault against his former partner in Port Sorell.
He is also accused of throwing a corrosive acid at four police officers who were attempting to arrest him for the alleged family violence.
The alleged violence began on the night of July 7, 2021, and continued the following morning before police were called, the jury was told.
On Tuesday in the Supreme Court in Burnie, Daniel Victor Gandini refused to answer to that name, asking to be referred to as Diplomat Dan or simply Dan.
He is representing himself in the trial and during opening statements to the jury told the court he does not answer to the honorific ‘mister’ as he believes it is insulting.
Dan told the jury he believes all lawyers are liars and corrupt, made serious accusations about Tasmania Police officers and made references to the concept of sovereign citizens and the Magna Carta.
Giving evidence in the trial on Tuesday, the man’s alleged victim told the court her then-husband had been frequently agitated in the days and weeks prior to July 7, 2021, and on that night began physically intimidating her.
She told the jury Dan became angry about the name on his birth certificate and then assaulted her by pushing his fingers into her chest before grabbing her by the head with both hands and squeezing.
“It felt like my skull was going to crack,” she told the jury.
She told the court the following morning he became agitated again and threw a glass of water over her before holding the glass near her face and threatening her with it.
“He said he wanted to drive the glass through my head,” she told the court.
She began to cry while she continued to give evidence about how she became fearful for the safety of herself and her children, and that Dan locked them out of the house shortly after.
Woman tells court ‘I didn’t believe he would follow through’ with threats
The woman also told the jury Dan had said he would “blow up the house” if police attempted to arrest him or stab them if he was pulled over while driving, and she said that once outside she looked through the window and saw him sharpening knives.
The woman said after she and the children left the house, she made phone calls to her mother and her husband’s psychologist, who advised her that her marriage was “untenable” and that she should call police.
Defence lawyer Kirsten Abercromby was appointed by the court to cross examine the complainant, as people accused of family violence cannot legally question their accusers.
She asked several questions provided by Dan about the nature of their relationship, and why she did not leave earlier if her husband’s behaviour was threatening.
“Daniel made a lot of threats that I didn’t believe he would follow through with,” she said, adding that his behaviour escalated on July 8.
Crown prosecutor Peter Sherriff told the jury it was during subsequent attempts to arrest him on that morning that Dan allegedly threw the acid at police officers, one of whom was injured and required treatment.
The trial before Chief Justice Alan Blow is expected to run for about three weeks.
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