Flinders View man who ‘did not know’ consent was needed in relationship sentenced in Ipswich court

A man has been sentenced after raping his partner three times; his defence counsel claiming he did not understand consent was necessary in a relationship until police explained to him it was.

An Ipswich man who raped his partner three times in two weeks claimed he did not know consent was necessary as they were in a relationship.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Ipswich District Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to three counts of rape.

His counsel Angus Edwards told the court that each of the three occasions of rape took place in January 2017.

He said police first approached the Flinders View man, 31, as part of a domestic violence check-in and soon discovered sexual abuse.

Mr Edwards said his client “didn’t really understand” that what he was doing was wrong at the time.

“He did not (believe) consent was required as they were in a relationship,” he said.

He told the court that once consent was explained to him, he admitted he had in fact “had sex with (his partner) without her permission”.

Mr Edwards said the man was never physically violent with his partner – the mother of his two eldest children – and he had not reoffended since the events of 2017.

He said the man’s employers, family, friends and new partner all spoke of him in “glowing terms” and he was described roundly as an “honest, reliable” and “hardworking” man.

The man’s partner and parents attended the court in support of him.

The court heard the man had not had contact with his two eldest children for about five years as a result of the offending, which led to him experiencing “depression and anxiety”.

Judge McDonnell said she had taken the man’s early pleas of guilty and lack of criminal history into consideration when deciding an appropriate sentence.

She ordered that he be imprisoned for a period of 4.5 years, with the sentence suspended after 12 months for an operational period of five years.