Convicted murderer James Hall standing trial accused of raping female prison officer at Mount Gambier Prison in 2017
A convicted murderer is on trial again in Adelaide, this time accused of raping a female prison officer while serving time at a prison that encouraged “relaxed” interactions with staff.
Police & Courts
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A convicted murderer took advantage of his prison’s “culture of positivity” to repeatedly rape a female corrections officer in his “low-to-medium security dorm”, a court has heard.
On Monday, the District Court heard James Hall was 12 years into his 22-year minimum term when he allegedly demanded sex from the woman at Mount Gambier Prison.
Ryan Williams, prosecuting, said Hall ignored the officer’s clear refusal to have sex with him, talking instead about how long he had been in custody.
He said CCTV footage would show the officer was inside Hall’s dorm – the door to which had been closed by the killer – for 20 minutes.
“He exposed himself and tried to kiss her,” he said.
”She was shocked and scared, and she feared what might happen if she did not comply, and so she did.”
Hall, 33, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape allegedly committed in 2017, when he was being held at the privately-run correctional facility.
The alleged rape was the subject of media attention at the time, but Hall’s identity was suppressed.
While that order has been lifted, The Advertiser remains prohibited from reporting any further details about the murder he committed due to other, ongoing suppression orders.
Opening the trial on Monday, Mr Williams said Mt Gambier Prison had an “open-plan” layout “resembling almost barracks or dorms” rather than “traditional prison architecture”.
He said the officer knew Hall prior to the incident, characterising their dealings as a “mutually respectful and trusting staff-prisoner relationship”.
“Being polite and friendly with one another is mutually beneficial in the prison environment, and informal interactions were not out of place at Mount Gambier,” he said.
“It’s a low-to-medium security prison … there is a culture of positive, peaceful and relatively relaxed interactions between staff and prisoners.
“Hall took advantage of that trusting relationship.”
Mr Williams said that, after being raped, the officer re-dressed herself, left the dorm and “tried to behave as if everything was fine, as if nothing had happened”.
“She succeeded because, as she went about her duties while trying to process what had happened to her, no one noticed anything was wrong,” he said.
“She did not feel comfortable talking to anyone, at that stage, about the incident (including) her partner … the next day, she confided in her sister.”
The trial, before Judge Gordon Barrett and in the absence of a jury, continues.