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Ex-Raider Curtis Scott has two charges thrown out

Two domestic charges against former NRL centre Curtis Scott have been dismissed after he successfully argued he had no case to answer.

After police closed their case on Wednesday, the former Storm and Raiders back’s barrister made a no-case submission concerning four of the nine offences Scott is accused of committing against then-girlfriend, long jumper Tay-Leiha Clark, between October 2018 and March 2019.

Ms Clark had given no evidence this week of Scott pushing her in the chest on Christmas Day 2018 and him strangling her in her bedroom the next day, barrister Slade Howell said.

Sydney Downing Centre magistrate Daniel Covington agreed, dismissing one count each of common assault and intentionally choke a person without their consent.

The magistrate declined to dismiss two more assault charges related to an allegation Scott headbutted Ms Clark and pushed her to the floor, causing a graze to her forearm, in the Clark family home on October 28.

Mr Howell had argued two of Ms Clark’s Instagram posts in the week after October 28 showed no signs of injuries to her knuckles or left forearm, placing the prosecution timeline in dispute.

It leaves Scott defending four substantial charges: intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical harm, intentionally choking a person with recklessness and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He also still faces three back-up common assault charges.

The court has been told Scott allegedly headbutted, choked and pushed Ms Clark in the final months of their two-year relationship.

It culminated in a phone call in March 2019, in which Scott verbally degraded Ms Clark, threatened to kill her and himself and then drove into a tree.

His then-team Storm referred some allegations to the NRL Integrity Unit but the Clark family declined to participate in the matter, Ms Clark’s mother said.

Th club, however, began updating the Clarks on Scott’s whereabouts whenever he was in Sydney for the 2019 season, she said.

Scott is expected to call his own witnesses when the matter returns to court on September 15.

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