Game Designer Denied Bail Following Serious Allegations of Violence
A game designer, Chance Blair, has been denied bail after allegedly attempting to persuade the victim to withdraw allegations of violence against him through Discord messages.
A game designer who allegedly choked a woman three times before sexually assaulting her attempted to persuade the alleged victim to withdraw her case by messaging her on the gaming platform Discord, a court has been informed.
Chance Blair, aged 34, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking bail after his arrest in May 2024 due to several allegations of violence.
The court was informed that after the alleged victim reported the incidents to the police, Mr Blair contacted her via Discord in an effort to convince her to drop the case.
Discord is a messaging service primarily used by the online gaming community.
According to court proceedings, he messaged the victim saying, "A simple statement like I no longer want to continue with these matters and will not be attending court in March could and will make a massive f**king difference and I'm not trying to pressure you into it. I genuinely want you to make this decision willingly."
The messages were retrieved from Mr Blair's phone following his arrest.
Justice Julia Lonergan of the NSW Supreme Court remarked that the messages exhibited a "Shakespearean level of manipulation" from Mr Blair.
"The context seems to be your client attempting to bully and manipulate her," Justice Lonergan addressed Mr Blair's lawyer, Brian Royce.
"I'm placing considerable weight on this. Your client’s manipulative practices are a significant factor in this case."
Mr Royce asserted that his client would not pose a danger to the alleged victim if granted bail, citing that he had a new partner and a three-week-old baby.
"If anything is going to motivate this man to use the colloquial saying - to stay on the straight and narrow and obey court orders - it’s going to be that," Mr Royce stated.
However, the Supreme Court Judge denied bail, expressing that she was "not satisfied" that Mr Blair's time in custody had altered his "attitude".
"I am not satisfied he will not interfere with her," the judge remarked.
Mr Blair maintains that the allegations were consensual and plans to plead not guilty to multiple charges when the matter proceeds to trial.
He founded his gaming company, Zero Hour Interactive, in 2019, which, according to LinkedIn, has 25 employees across 11 countries.
