Man who raped woman at pizza shop has shown no remorse, court told

The lawyer for a man who raped a teenager at a pizzeria has told a court why his client lacked judgment when committing the crime.

A man who raped a teenager at a south Sydney pizzeria had impaired judgment and acted impulsively due to his “deprived and brutalised” childhood in Iraq, his lawyer has told a court.

But the prosecution contended Ricardo Audish’s childhood did not diminish his responsibility for the crime, pointing out the married dad of three had shown no remorse at all.

Audish, 42, was found guilty earlier this year of raping an 18-year-old woman at a pizza restaurant in Lugarno in October 2016.

Prosecutors alleged at trial the woman was raped by Audish and two boys, aged 17 and 15, after she went to the pizzeria with her 17-year-old boyfriend to “have some weed”.

She had consensual sex with her boyfriend in the bathroom, after which he said to her “all the other boys want to have sex with you now”, and she replied “hell no”, the court was told.

The three teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges over the alleged gang rape and are awaiting trial.

A man who raped a teenager at a south Sydney pizzeria had impaired judgment and acted impulsively, his lawyer said. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Audish faced a sentence hearing on Friday in the NSW District Court where his barrister, Greg James QC, argued his traumatic childhood in Iraq had left him with PTSD and, in turn, a lack of judgment that lowered his moral culpability for the crime.

Mr James said Audish was not the instigator of events that night and the rape he committed was “opportunistic”.

It was in a “completely different ballpark” to a painstakingly planned crime, he said.

Audish was convicted of three counts of sexual intercourse without consent in company, one of the charges relating to his own rape of the woman and the other two over his presence when the woman was allegedly raped by the teenagers.

The barrister said there was no evidence Audish had caused the woman to take an intoxicating substance, and at point he had asked her if she was OK, indicating he was not “callous” towards her.

Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale hit back at the suggestion the rape was “impulsive”, saying Audish, who was 37 at the time, had the capacity to make reasoned decisions.

She described the woman as so intoxicated she was “unable to stand up properly” before she was assaulted and said the criminal conduct lasted “at least about an hour”.

“The crown would say those were not impulsive acts at all,” Ms Nightingale said. “There was time for reasoned judgments.”

She urged Judge David Arnott to find Audish’s moral culpability was not reduced by his background.

Ricardo Audish arrives at the Downing Centre Court in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

His behaviour on the night as well as his conduct after the fact showed him “engaging in a very detailed course of behaviour”, she said.

Mr James acknowledged there would be “a significant sentence of imprisonment” but said Audish’s commitment to his family and church suggested he had good prospects of rehabilitation.

He argued Audish’s time in custody would be more onerous than the average prisoner due to his background and resulting mental health, his heart condition, and Covid-19 restrictions in prison.

Ms Nightingale said a big part of rehabilitation was remorse and contrition, and Audish had shown none at all.

She said of the victim: “She’s a young woman who has been greatly affected by these offences.”

Audish will be sentenced on August 27.

Originally published as Man who raped woman at pizza shop has shown no remorse, court told