Thomas Carl Petterson jailed for very public Darwin CBD rape after bout of heavy drinking

WARNING: DISTRESSSING. A Darwin man who was on bail regarding a separate criminal matter went on a Chardonnay binge then raped a woman in a public CBD arcade, attracting the attention of nearby workers, a court has heard.

Metro Arcade runs between Austin Lane and Cavanagh St in Darwin City. Picture: File

A Darwin man who was on bail regarding a separate criminal matter went on a Chardonnay binge then raped a woman more than 30 years his junior in a CBD arcade, attracting the attention of nearby workers, a court has heard.

Thomas Carl Petterson, 57, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory to a single count of rape.

The court heard at Petterson’s sentencing hearing that his rape of the woman occurred in Metro Arcade, off Austin Lane, on October 3 last year.

On the day in question, Petterson – who was on bail for another matter – his victim and a third person purchased several bottles of Chardonnay from a bottle shop and took them to Metro Arcade, where they began drinking.

At 2.14pm, CCTV obtained from the area captured Petterson lying down next to his victim, placing his hands inside her clothing and digitally raping her.

The court heard Petterson placed his other hand over the woman’s mouth to stifle her protests.

She nevertheless managed to cry for help, attracting the attention of a nearby office worker, who was able to take a picture of the offending before calling police.

A second witness from the same office attested that she saw the rape occur and heard the victim say, “You’re hurting me, stop.”

Police attended and spoke with Petterson, who told officers his victim was just a “root,” a friend of his aged 30 who was of “consensual age”.

The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Officers arrested Petterson and conducted a breath analysis, which revealed he had a high-range concentration of alcohol in his blood.

Justice John Reeves told the court he considered Petterson’s offending to be in the mid-range of seriousness, especially considering the victim was 24, not the 30 claimed by Petterson.

He noted the woman repeatedly told Petterson to stop, and it was abundantly obvious he hurt her physically and caused a high level of emotional distress.

Justice Reeves told the court Petterson, although having a dated criminal history, did not have any prior convictions for sexual offending.

The defendant had, of late, fallen upon hard times, living in the long grass for the past five years while receiving a disability support pension.

Justice Reeves told the court Petterson, who acknowledged a lifelong struggle with alcohol, had been “getting heavily intoxicated every day” while living in the long grass.

Petterson, who has been remanded in custody since the offence date, was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment, backdated to January 8 this year to take into account a concurrent sentence.

Justice Reeves made a non-parole order of three years and two months.

Originally published as Thomas Carl Petterson jailed for very public Darwin CBD rape after bout of heavy drinking