Murder-rape charges after balcony plunge

Sydney police have lodged a horrific litany of charges against a man accused over the death of a Chinese exchange student, who plunged naked from a balcony with her boyfriend after a knife-wielding intruder forced his way into their flat.

Brendan David Dennison, 26, has been charged with raping the 18-year-old woman from Sichuan province three times and raping her 19-year-old Korean boyfriend twice. Two friends of the couple were also in the flat.

Dennison is also accused of forcing all four Asian students, who studied at a language institute to help prepare them for university in Australia, to perform sexual acts on each other and on him during an hour-long ordeal in the suburban Waterloo flat on Sunday afternoon.

Dennison refused to leave his jail cell to make his scheduled court appearance yesterday. He was refused bail.

In total, Dennison faces 21 charges, including murder, grievous bodily harm, incitement to commit acts of indecency and aggravated sexual assault and robbery.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that Magistrate Allan Moore had ordered DNA samples be taken from Dennison, and had remanded him in custody until December 11.