BANKRUPT childcare entrepreneur Eddy Groves pushed his wife down stairs at work and remotely accessed her computer to control what she was doing, a court has been told.
Dr Le Neve Groves would give evidence of the ways her husband allegedly controlled her life at home and at work, the Supreme Court was told by her lawyer, Patrick O'Shea.
The court would hear of numerous incidents of Dr Groves allegedly being hit, punched and threatened with knives by Mr Groves and times when he tried to push her out of cars.
Dr Le Neve Groves will give evidence in a Supreme Court case involving Dr Groves and lenders Citi and BT.
Mr Groves and Dr Groves were co-founders of ABC Learning Centres childcare chain, which collapsed in November 2008.
Dr Groves took action against Mr Groves and the lenders over the sale of $33 million worth of her ABC Learning stock in margin calls. Proceedings against her husband were dropped after he became bankrupt.
Dr Groves's lawyer told the court it would be alleged that the lenders failed to take prudent steps in getting guarantees from Dr Groves.
The guarantees were for Mr Groves's loans and Dr Groves believed the signatures on various guarantee documents were not hers, Mr O'Shea said in his submissions.
Mr O'Shea said Dr Groves would tell the court of years of being beaten by her husband and living in fear of him.
He said Dr Groves would say in 2005 she realised that Mr Groves had set up three computer screens in his office at Murarrie, and one was to access her computer remotely.
"Things happened on her computer that she wasn't doing or controlling," Mr O'Shea said.
"Her view is that Mr Groves was doing it to keep tabs on what she was doing and to control what she was doing."
The court heard that in that year Mr Groves pushed his wife down stairs at the ABC offices and she had to have surgery on the middle index finger of her right hand, her writing hand.
Mr O'Shea said Dr Groves would tell about Mr Groves becoming violent towards her after he lost money gambling at casinos, in the early years of their marriage.
Dr Groves would say in the first year of their marriage, while they were at Jupiter's Casino on the Gold Coast, he beat her for the first time, after waking her and telling her he had just lost $2000, Mr O'Shea said .
Dr Groves will tell the court of another alleged beating by Mr Groves, when she thought her finger was broken.
She would tell the court that after Mr Groves learned she had gone to a doctor he beat her again and she was unable to leave the house for a few days.
Mr O'Shea said at one stage she spoke to a friend of Mr Groves about her husband's violence and her concerns for her safety.
She said he would often swing from violent to charming without warning, Mr O'Shea said.
Dr Groves also will give evidence how she would lock herself in the home bedroom and after being threatened by her husband with knives she never left sharp objects lying around.
Mr O'Shea said Dr Groves would tell how her husband became angry if she did not clean their house and he insisted on food cans being arranged in order of height.
The court would hear how he would throw out tooth brushes if they were not arranged parallel to each other.
Mr O'Shea said Dr Groves would tell of an incident after the couple's children were born in 1994 and 1995, when Dr Groves pushed her down 12 stairs at home.
He said she took the children into a bedroom and pushed a cubby house against the door.
Mr O'Shea said 30 minutes later she heard the car in the garage and after smelling exhaust fumes she went to the garage.
She would say she found Mr Groves in the driver's seat and exhaust fumes in the garage.
After she got help Mr Groves blamed her for what had occurred, Mr O'Shea said.
Mr O'Shea said in 1989 Mr Groves told his wife he had signed her signature on a childcare licence renewal.
He allegedly told her he had done a pretty good job of signing her name.
Mr O'Shea said by 1994 Mr Groves told Dr Groves he had frequently signed her signature because she was not available.
He is continuing with his opening submissions.
In court on Monday Mr Groves, representing himself, stood at the bar table and rejected claims of domestic violence, forgery and taking his former wife's money.
"These are disputed questions of fact," he said.
"There will be a contest of credit between myself and Dr Le Neve Groves."
Mr Groves's attempt to go into detail was derailed when the court ruled he could not appear in the matter. The ruling came after proceedings against him personally were dropped due to his bankruptcy in January.
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