Jodie Lovell: Boyfriend charged three years after she fell to her death at Darling Harbour Hyatt Regency hotel in Sydney

A man has been charged with domestic violence, more than three years after his girlfriend plunged to her death from a balcony of a luxury hotel overlooking Sydney's Darling Harbour.

Police allege the 51-year-old man, who was arrested at a house in Engadine, South Sydney, at around 9am on Tuesday, had locked his girlfriend Jodie Lovell on the balcony before her death on May 22, 2020.

He and Ms Lovell – a 45-year-old mother of two from Kareela – had enjoyed a night out and returned to their $509-a-night room at the Hyatt Regency in Darling Harbour.

Shortly afterwards, he alerted hotel staff that she had fallen ten floors from the hotel balcony in Sussex St and emergency services were called.

Her then boyfriend, 51, was arrested by police on Tuesday (pictured, the Hyatt Regency in Darling Harbour)

Mrs Lovell's body was found on the roof of the hotel on the first floor (photo: Police reconstruct Mrs Lovell's fall at the hotel a week after her death)

Her body was discovered on the roof of the hotel on the first floor. Officers simulated her fall from the room with a doll just over a week later.

Detectives set up Strike Force Cumulus to investigate Mrs Lovell's death.

“He was charged with taking/detaining a person with intent to gain advantage (domestic violence),” the statement said.

“Police will claim in court that the man locked the woman out of the balcony before she fell.”

The 51-year-old man was granted conditional bail to appear at Sutherland Local Court on Friday, January 12, 2024.

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Ms Lovell's then partner (above) told police he locked her on the balcony after a heated argument

Police have charged the now 51-year-old man with 'taking/detaining a person with intent to gain advantage' in connection with an alleged crime of domestic violence (pictured, police outside the Hyatt Regency after Ms Lovell's death)