Cairns crime: Jury out on Alan Vico rape trial

Four witnesses gave evidence a 20-year-old woman was heavily intoxicated but the man accused of raping her contradicted them, a Crown prosecutor told Cairns District Court on Tuesday.

IT was abundantly clear to accused rapist Alan Vico that a 20-year-old woman he picked up off Sheridan St at 11.30pm was heavily intoxicated, Crown prosecutor Claudia Georgouras told a jury in Cairns District Court on Tuesday.

Former Ports North boss Mr Vico, 56, has pleaded not guilty to rape.

Ms Georgouras has said the woman did not have the cognitive capacity to consent to sex.

In the dock, Mr Vico shook his head repeatedly in apparent disagreement with the prosecutor’s assertions.

He appeared agitated and impatient and had a scornful expression on his face as Ms Georgouras replayed CCTV video of the woman in a taxi.

Cairns District Court has heard that Alan Vico, who has pleaded not guilty to rape, took a heavily intoxicated 20-year-old Norwegian student to the Southside International Motel at Earlville on September 20, 2018.

Mr Vico maintained the CCTV was poor quality when he took the stand earlier in the trial.

Ms Georgouras said the CCTV, which had audio, showed the woman gave the cab driver her Brisbane address, and was nodding off, leaning her head against the car door.

“I would submit to you her speech at this point is unintelligible, mumbling, and not making much sense,” she said.

“She didn’t know what city she was in, where her phone or wallet was, where her friends were.

“She got out of the cab on a road in a dark, random location where she’s never been before, and the next thing she did was get into a car with a total stranger.

“She had lost control.”

Alan Vico, right, arrives at Cairns District Court with solicitor Bebe Mellick. Mr Vico has pleaded not guilty to rape.

“She was highly vulnerable, alone, highly intoxicated, no friends, no phone, no wallet,” she said.

Mr Vico has told the court the woman was coherent when she got in his car.

Addressing the jury on Monday, defence barrister Harvey Walters said the Crown’s case was circumstantial.

He said Mr Vico could not have possibly known that she would have no recollection of what happened that night, and he could not possibly have known she was experiencing alcoholic blackout.

Ms Georgouras highlighted what she said were inconsistencies between what Mr Vico told police and what he subsequently said in court.

“His version in the witness box is so riddled with inconsistencies, you can’t rely on it,” Ms Georgouras said.

“Mr Vico is the only one who says she wasn’t grossly intoxicated.”

She said four witnesses gave evidence the woman was heavily intoxicated, including a man who described a “chaotic journey” as he walked the woman from the Woolshed to Gilligan’s.

Woolshed nightclub security guard Paul Hosking and CitySafe security guard Carl Watz testified the woman was quite intoxicated.

Cairns District Court has heard that Alan Vico, who has pleaded not guilty to rape, took a heavily intoxicated 20-year-old Norwegian student to the Southside International Motel at Earlville on September 20, 2018.

Mr Vico told police in audio played to the court he was concerned the woman was highly intoxicated or had taken drugs and that she was behaving oddly on the street.

The pair entered the motel just after midnight. Mr Vico was seen on CCTV leaving at 4am and the woman woke at 7am naked, with a condom wrapper and a $20 note on the bedside table.

Former motel manager Rachel Friend said the woman appeared “crying and distressed” and after inspecting the room and seeing two condom wrappers, Ms Friend sealed the room and called the police.

The jury has started deliberations.

Originally published as Cairns crime: Jury out on Alan Vico rape trial