Details of rape horror revealed

DAVID Samuel Aubrey Ray is serving a life sentence for what he did to an 82-year-old great-grandmother.

Iris Temperley’s daughter, Kerry Bickle, holds a photograph of her mother, who was murdered on Australia Day last year, outside the court. Picture: Chris Ison

DAVID Samuel Aubrey Ray is serving a life sentence for what he did to an 82-year-old great-grandmother.

But Iris Daphne Temperley's family will never forget the horrific details of what the last moments of her life were like.

A week ago today, Mrs Temperley's family sat in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton and listened to the evidence of injuries their loved one suffered after being raped by an 18-year-old, and which led to her death.

On Australia Day last year, Mrs Temperley was going about her daily routine of raking her backyard when Ray, who had been at a party during the night, decided to rob her house.

He had already been to the Leichhardt Hotel about 2.30 that morning, where he stole alcohol.

From there, Ray went to a party and the next report of him was when Mrs Temperley's neighbour saw what he first thought was an indigenous man lying on a mattress in Mrs Temperley's backyard. But then he realised the man was in fact on top of Mrs Temperley, who had poor vision, required a wheelie-walker and had other ailments.

Crown prosecutor Michael Cowen told the court Mrs Temperley had suffered significant head injuries, fractured facial bones, broken nose, broken ribs, air in her lungs, collapsed lower lobes of both lungs, extensive swelling of the tongue, eyelids swollen shut and other injuries related to the rapes.

Immediately after the events at Mrs Temperley's home, Ray jumped the back fence and went down the lane to steal from another house.

Witnesses reported him staggering as if he was intoxicated.

Ray attended the Rockhampton police station, with a relative, the following day after he recalled assaulting an old lady.

Mr Cowen said Ray had difficulty remembering, but had recalled the burglary and using his elbow to repeatedly assault the lady.

He said it was believed Ray had assaulted Mrs Temperley with the aim of knocking her unconscious so she couldn't hinder him in the burglary, which he had carried out to get money to buy more alcohol and cannabis.

Mr Cowen said Ray, when interviewed by police, could not recall the rapes, or the burglary of the next house.

However, when police interviewed him again five days after Mrs Temperley died, Ray recalled "taking it too far" and doing things he shouldn't have.

Justice Duncan McMeekin said he had read the psychiatrist's report, which stated while Ray felt genuine remorse and had a substance abuse problem since age 13, there was no psychiatric excuse for this conduct.

"Like many people of your race, you have turned to alcohol and drugs at a young age," he said.

Originally published as Details of rape horror revealed