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| UK tourist in Australia 'rape ordeal' released from hospital | UK tourist in Australia 'rape ordeal' released from hospital |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A UK backpacker who was allegedly held captive and repeatedly raped in Australia is being comforted by family members, police have said. | |
| The 22-year-old woman, from Liverpool, has been released from hospital, Queensland Police confirmed. | |
| Her Australian ex-boyfriend, 22, is facing 23 charges over the alleged ordeal that ended on Sunday. | Her Australian ex-boyfriend, 22, is facing 23 charges over the alleged ordeal that ended on Sunday. |
| Police on Wednesday said the attacks took place over a one-month period, not two months as alleged earlier. | Police on Wednesday said the attacks took place over a one-month period, not two months as alleged earlier. |
| They say the assaults happened between 3 February and 5 March on a road trip stretching from Cairns, in Far North Queensland, across the state's outback. | |
| It ended when officers stopped the pair's 4x4 more than 1,000km (620 miles) south at Mitchell, after a service station reported they failed to pay for petrol. | |
| In a brief statement on Wednesday, police said the woman had been released from hospital into the care of friends and family. | In a brief statement on Wednesday, police said the woman had been released from hospital into the care of friends and family. |
| They also said the pair met at a Cairns party on 27 January, clarifying wrong information that it was three months ago. | |
| Detective Inspector Paul Hart on Tuesday said the woman had gone through a "horrific and terrifying" experience, and that officers "potentially saved this young girl's life". | |
| He said she had suffered facial fractures, bruising, abrasions to her neck and cuts to her body, as well as psychological injuries. | |
| Tears at service station | |
| The accused man, from Cairns, is facing charges including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault and four counts of strangulation. | The accused man, from Cairns, is facing charges including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault and four counts of strangulation. |
| He is also charged with two counts of deprivation of liberty, causing wilful damage, possessing drugs and drug equipment and obstructing police. | |
| The man appeared to be "hiding from police" in the back of the vehicle when he was arrested, Mr Hart said. | |
| Police had stopped the 4x4 after receiving a call from a service station owner in Mitchell. | |
| "She pulled up and fuelled up and then when she came in, she couldn't pay for her fuel," the owner, Beverley Page, told the Courier Mail. | |
| "The girl was crying at the time and our person told her to just go outside and have another look for her wallet and take a deep breath and come back in," she said, adding the woman then drove off. | |
| State in shock | |
| Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad described the allegations as "absolutely horrific". | |
| "I want people to understand that Queensland is a safe place and these sorts of things are the exception," she said on Wednesday. | |
| "We want to make sure that violence against women, these sorts of crimes, are completely unacceptable." | |
| The accused man was refused bail on Monday and will go before the courts again on 23 May. | |
| Neither the accused man or the victim can be named for legal reasons, Queensland's Department of Justice said. |