El Masri pleads 'not guilty' to DV charges

Former Bulldogs NRL player Hazem El Masri has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges, with his lawyer branding the alleged victim a "compulsive liar".

El Masri's solicitor Chris Murphy told Bankstown Local Court on Thursday his client would "never strike a woman" following an alleged incident involving wife Douah El-Cherif, 25, at their Sydney home on Monday night.

Ms El-Cherif was making a prank call to police when she levelled the domestic violence claims, Mr Murphy told the court.

In an at-times tense exchange with Magistrate Daniel Reiss on Thursday, in which he was told not to turn the court into a circus, Mr Murphy said the complainant was a liar who "has a history of making false accusations".

According to court documents, police will allege El Masri assaulted Ms El-Cherif twice over a two-hour period on Monday night with incidents at 7.30 and 9.30pm.

The former White Ribbon Ambassador, which campaigns to stop violence against women, has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

The former Bulldogs winger, 39, pleaded not guilty to both charges and a hearing was set for February 1 next year.