A WOMAN charged with the murder of her partner at the Bendigo showgrounds last year will face the Supreme Court for a directions hearing, ahead of her murder trial.
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Veronica Hudson, 41, was yesterday refused bail in the Bendigo Magistrates Court, after it was ruled there were no exceptional circumstances to grant her bail request.
After a two day committal hearing, Hudson’s defence asked to have her bail granted under the exceptional circumstances of abuse she had suffered from her partner.
Magistrate Bruce Cottrill denied the bail and ordered Hudson to appear in a post-committal directions hearing on October 18.
In his ruling, Mr Cottrill said there was a “natural inclination toward sympathy for the accused”, but the court needed to consider Hudson’s risk of reoffending.
“She was a victim of egregious mental, physical and sexual assault,” he said.
“There’s no doubt the nature of the relationship was exceptional for its dysfunction, abuse and violence.”
But Mr Cottrill said the essence of the prosecution’s case to oppose bail was Hudson’s extensive criminal history.
The court heard that Hudson had committed “the gamut of street offences” while living in the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria.
Mr Cottrill said that given the opinions of medical experts, her personal vulnerabilities required “continued treatment and care”.
The court was told the relationship between Hudson and her partner began in early 2005, before he seriously assaulted her and was jailed for five years.
The victim’s body was found on Boxing Day at a temporary campsite.
Hudson will appear before the Supreme Court in a directions hearing before standing trial.