Ex-NRL star nearly BLED TO DEATH when he punched a window after catching fiancee cheating with teammate
A former rugby star nearly bled himself to death when he punched a window after catching his fiancee performing a sex act on his teammate.
29-year-old Michael Lichaa, former Sharks and Bulldogs hooker, was acquitted on Friday, August 5, of domestic violence charges after his ex-fiancee Kara Childerhouse declined to testify against him. The embattled athlete detailed in court how the incident forced him to make amends in his life and is now looking forward to living "happy days" ahead.
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Lichaa woke up one morning after a party to find Childerhouse in his backyard performing a sex act on his former Bulldogs teammate Adam Elliot. The court heard how he flew into a rage as he was still affected by alcohol after drinking all afternoon and into the early morning at his home. He allegedly blurted a string of expletives and stormed inside, followed by Elliot, before punching the glass window on his front door and slashing his arm badly as he pulled it back from the frame.
Concerned neighbors called the authorities and reported hearing a man scream, "I'm going t f***ing kill her." Lichaa was subsequently charged with domestic violence offenses after Childerhouse accused him of assaulting her. The disturbing incident shattered the promising athlete's mental state. “I couldn’t get the image of my fiancee performing oral sex on my best friend out of my mind,” Lichaa told the court on Friday. Magistrate Melissa Humphreys described his testimony as “genuine and insightful” after he detailed how the traumatic episode prompted him to seek counseling to take ownership of his actions.
The trial took an eyebrow-raising twist on Thursday, August 4, when Childerhouse refused to turn up to Sutherland Local Court to give evidence. Police were unable to contact her despite being subpoenaed and in the middle of her testimony. The court later heard that she no longer wanted to be a part of the proceedings as she was pregnant and did not want the stress of reliving the incident. This prompted the magistrate to exclude all of the testimony she had given up until that point, and it left the prosecution without evidence to tender on the assault charge.
Former @NRL star Michael Lichaa has today been acquitted of domestic violence charges after his ex partner Kara Childerhouse who was making the accusations, sensationally failed to turn up to court to give evidence. https://t.co/OF81oZFF1j #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/eqjoT5BGR6
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) August 5, 2022
Elliot admitted in court on Thursday that he had been drinking for at least 12 hours when the incident unfolded. When asked if Lichaa had assaulted Childerhouse, he told the court, "I disagree," and explained that Lichaa went inside before he followed him in an attempt to apologize to his former teammate. Lichaa then exclaimed, "What the f*** are you doing?” and went outside onto his driveway and paced up and down in a heated state.
Responding to the witness testimony that a man was heard yelling, "I'm going to f***ing kill her," Lichaa’s barrister James Trevallion said the statement did not amount to an offense of intimidation. “Clearly it was a situation where there was a lot of emotion and feeling and it would be remarkable when walking up and down the street, if he wasn’t yelling and screaming and emotional and upset about what had occurred,” Trevallion told the court on Friday. Magistrate Humphries found Lichaa not guilty of one count of intimidation.
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However, Lichaa pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of destroying property, in connection with the broken glass window he punched during the incident. Police bodycam footage obtained by NCA NewsWire showed pools of blood in Lichaa's house after he cut his arm. His father emotionally told the court how he feared for his son's life after he had lost 2.5 liters of blood. One officer is heard in the police footage describing the scene as a "bloodfest." Speaking to NewsWire outside court on Friday, Lichaa thanked his lawyers, his family, and his new fiancee. “I’m glad the truth finally came out; I was very confident in the truth the whole time. But I just want to put it all behind me now and move on with my life and happy days ahead," he said.