Prosecution poses another speed bump in case against Grace Tame’s abuser Nico Bester

A move by the prosecution in the case of alleged Twitter harassment by Grace Tame’s abuser Nicolaas Bester will further set back court proceedings. Find out what happened.

Nicolaas Ockert Bester outside of the Hobart Magistrates Court. Picture: Genevieve Holding

The prosecution has posed the latest delay to the case of alleged harassment to Grace Tame by disgraced Hobart teacher Nicolaas Ockert Bester.

At the Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday, the prosecution legal team expressed the need for a further mention date after requiring further evidence before approaching a hearing.

Bester pleaded not guilty in March 2023 to the three counts of using Twitter, now known as X, to menace and harass former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.

The court previously heard Bester had been diagnosed with vascular dementia and was deemed not fit to stand trial.

Both the prosecution and Bester’s defence lawyer Todd Kovacic acknowledged that Bester’s fitness to stand trial would continue to be an issue.

Grace Tame. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Nicolaas Bester.

However, a tentative hearing date was set for December 23, with Mr Kovacic stating the hearing “won’t take more than a day”.

Bester is expected to reappear at the Hobart Magistrates Court for mention on November 5.

The former St Michael’s Collegiate teacher was jailed in 2011 after grooming and repeatedly sexually abusing Ms Tame in 2010.

At the time, he was a 58-year-old teacher and she was a 15-year-old Collegiate school student.

Ms Tame came to prominence through the “Let Her Speak” campaign, and helped change Tasmanian laws for child sexual abuse survivors, including the right for them to publicly tell their stories, and was named Australian of the Year in 2021.

Originally published as Prosecution poses another speed bump in case against Grace Tame’s abuser Nico Bester