Young woman allegedly tortured so badly police thought she was dead

Two men charged after 21-year-old found in Brisbane unit with ‘horrific’ injuries probably inflicted over several weeks

A young Brisbane woman allegedly subjected to weeks of torture was so badly injured the police who found her initially thought she was dead.

Officers attended a Bulimba unit on 2 July where they found a 21-year-old with life-threatening burns and other injuries that extended the length of her body. Her condition, appearance and smell led them to think she was dead until she moaned.

The woman was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where she remains in an induced coma. Police will allege she suffered extensive burns, a broken nose, eye socket and ribs, chemical burns to her throat and a hole to the side of her head.

Detective Senior Sergeant Rod Watts described the injuries as “horrific” and said they were probably inflicted over several weeks.

Nicholas John Crilley, 31, was charged on Monday with torture, intent to disfigure, intent to cause grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty and unlawfully supplying a dangerous drug, after a dramatic police pursuit.

Former professional soccer player Jeromy Lee Harris, 41, was also charged on Thursday, for allegedly assisting Crilley after the attack.

Brisbane magistrate John Costello refused Harris bail on Friday, saying there was no evidence he had “acted with any kind of humanity” upon learning of the woman’s injuries.

Police prosecutor Matt Kahler said the 21-year-old was found by police in Harris’s home and he allegedly provided Crilley with alprazolam, sold as Xanax.

The court heard CCTV showed Crilley carrying a “small, human-sized object” from a hotel to a vehicle on 29 June.

Kahler alleged the woman was wrapped in a sheet, “thrown in the boot of the car” and taken to Harris’s home.

Defence solicitor Remy Kurz said his client was not charged with inflicting any of the woman’s injuries and was simply an “accessory after the fact”. Kurz said Harris did not see the alleged victim and only knew about her injuries in a “general sense”.

But Kahler said text messages found on Harris’s phone showed he knew the victim was at his home and “very extensively injured”.

“He knew she’d been burnt,” he said. “He knew that she smelled like death.”

Costello said while Harris was not accused of carrying out the acts of torture, his involvement was “far more than fleeting”.

He and Crilley were both remanded and will reappear in court on 7 August.