THE mother of a Chinese student who was allegedly raped at knife-point and murdered arrived in Sydney yesterday and visited the apartment from which her only daughter fell to her death.
The woman, described as a successful Chinese businesswoman, was accompanied by the girl’s stepfather, who was later taken to Glebe morgue to identify her body.
Within an hour of their arrival, the couple were escorted through the Waterloo apartment where the 18-year-old girl was allegedly raped three times before falling from a third-storey balcony on Sunday.
Lawyer David Sheen, acting on behalf of the dead girl’s family, said the mother was a famous businesswoman who ran a supermarket before earthquakes struck her home province in China. “So she lost her home, her business and now she’s lost her daughter,” Mr Sheen said.
He said a funeral would probably take place in Australia, while the student’s ashes would be taken home with her mother.
As the mother visited the apartment, the 26-year-old man accused of the murder and of raping the girl’s boyfriend and forcing two of her friends to perform indecent acts on each other, declined to appear in Central Local Court.
Brendan David Dennison, who was arrested in Redfern on Wednesday night, remained in the cells below the court after being charged with 21 offences.
He was arrested about 4 1/2 hours after detectives released CCTV footage of him entering the apartment building.
Sources from the Redfern community said yesterday he had come to Sydney from Boggabilla, in northern NSW, about 10 months ago.
They said he had drifted through accommodation in the inner-city suburbs of Redfern and Waterloo.
Mr Dennison was charged with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on the woman’s 19-year-old boyfriend, who also fell from the balcony and may not recover from spinal, leg and pelvic injuries.
According to court documents, Mr Dennison allegedly sexually assaulted the woman three times and her boyfriend twice at knife-point during an hour-long ordeal.
The lone male victim was allegedly forced to perform indecent acts with his girlfriend, and then with all three women, before being further forced to commit another act with Mr Dennison, the documents said.
The court documents also allege that Mr Dennison used his tongue to touch the anus of the male captive at one point during the ordeal.
One woman was robbed of her wallet containing $120, while Mr Dennison allegedly robbed another of $50. Mr Dennison is also accused of aggravated break and enter, threatening two women with actual bodily harm, and illegally detaining the four victims. His lawyer did not apply for bail and the accused was remanded into custody.
Magistrate Allan Moore ordered that Mr Dennison give a DNA sample to police within 14 days and issued a suppression order on the identities of the victims.
Mr Dennison will face Central Local Court on December 11.
Additional reporting: John Stapleton