An executive whose girlfriend died after partially severing her arm on a glass door during an argument has been charged over the alleged assault of another woman.
Lee Robert Loughlin, 44, has never been charged over the horror incident which saw his partner Claire Austin, 38, reportedly run through the glass door between a bedroom and sunroom of their Randwick flat in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on April 12.
Loughlin, who runs Lead Group and Vidaura recruitment companies, was charged on June 16 with assault occasioning actual bodily harm over an alleged incident with another woman.
The alleged incident occurred in November 2023 and is unrelated to Ms Austin, with the unidentified woman making a complaint to police after news of the 38-year-old’s death made headlines, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Daily Mail does not suggest Loughlin was in any way responsible for the death of Ms Austin.
Loughlin and Ms Austin, 38, were living on the top floor of a Randwick Street apartment when she reportedly severed an artery in her arm during a disagreement.
Neighbours told Daily Mail they heard ‘fighting constantly’ between the two, but on the Saturday she was fatally wounded the shouting began at around 7am and ‘sounded way worse’.
A concerned neighbour rang Triple Zero and paramedics rushed Ms Austin to St Vincent’s Hospital where she was placed on life support.
The 38-year-old marketing and events consultant, who was from the UK but had been living in for ten years, died three days later on April 15.
Loughlin was taken to Maroubra Police Station for questioning before being admitted to a mental health facility for several days.
An Apprehended Violence Order taken out by police on behalf of Ms Austin was dismissed after she died.
NSW Police at the time had labelled Ms Austin’s death suspicious, but no charges have been laid over the incident.
‘The investigation is ongoing,’ a spokesman said.
One of the Randwick neighbours who claimed to have heard a row before Ms Austin’s catastrophic injury said it had ‘sounded like something wrong would happen’.
‘I heard the woman at first and it worried me. Then I heard the man. I think I heard a crash and then I didn’t hear the woman again,’ he said.
The neighbour added he then heard a man screaming ‘somebody help me’ over and over.
He said after the crashing sound and the woman going quiet, someone had called Triple Zero and soon after the ambulance and police arrived in the street.
After being told she would not survive her injuries, Ms Austin’s family flew from the UK to Sydney and arrived just hours before she passed away.
Ms Austin had worked at The Do Collective, a Sydney marketing company, until the month before she died, when she had moved on to a new media company as an events producer.
Following her death, her former colleagues from The Do Collective arrived at the apartment block where she had lived, placed flowers and mementos outside and paid tribute to her memory.
They told Daily Mail that Ms Austin was ‘a lovely person’ who embraced life and had a large group of friends.
One of the cards left for Ms Austin read: ‘To the sweetest soul, it was an honour to have known you. Your presence is truly missed.
‘Thank you for all your love and support – words can’t describe how painful this is. Rest in peace Claire.’
Ms Austin’s family members are believed to have spent several weeks in Sydney following her death before returning back home.