Disgraced Gloucester horse trainer Paul Wardell appeals sentence for teen sex assaults

The disgraced Gloucester horse trainer who was previously convicted on more than 20 sexual assault charges, has attempted to appeal his 14-year jail sentence.

Gloucester stockman and horse trainer, Paul Wardell. Photo: Facebook

A disgraced former horse trainer and breeder found guilty by a jury of continuously assaulting two vulnerable teenage girls under his authority, has attempted to appeal his more than a decade long jail sentence.

Paul Wardell, 71, sought leave to appeal his conviction and 14-year jail sentence in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday, where his legal team argued there were three reasons it should be granted.

The reasons include the summary provided to the jury was too confusing, the objective seriousness did not meet the seriousness of the sentence and the non-parole period was beyond what was originally agreed between the Crown and defence.

The appeal comes after Wardell was sentenced in October, 2021, of 23 offences – four counts of aggravated indecent assault on one victim and 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault and six counts of aggravated indecent assault on another – relating to two teenagers while they worked on his famous Gloucester property.

Wardell was found to have abused both girls separately, one between 2012 and 2014 and the other between 2017 and 2018.

Paul Wardell was convicted in October, 2021, of 23 sexual assault offences. Photo: Facebook

NSW District Court Judge Jonathon Priestly, who sentenced Wardell to a non-parole period of nine years, found the horse trainer’s position of authority was an aggravating factor in his offending.

“The victims were young women eager to pursue careers in the horse industry and the offender was a well-established figure in that industry,” he said in a written judgement published last year.

Paul Wardell has appealed the 14-year-long jail sentence and conviction. Photo: Facebook

“The victims were under his authority and often without company other than himself.

“The age of the victims when they first came into contact with the offenders shows that they were young people, and based on their background, with little worldly experience.

“The victims were as a result vulnerable to the unlawful acts of the offender occurring to them.

“The victims looked to the offender for education, instruction and assistance. Instead the offender took advantage of the situation to carry out the proven offences.”

Wardell had spent decades with a revered reputation among Australia’s stock horse fraternities, was a sought-after instructor to budding young riders and a highly-acclaimed judge at the country’s biggest shows.

In court on Monday, Wardell sat in green prison attire, appearing in court via video link from custody, while his barrister Tim Game SC spoke of the “problems” in the trial ruling.

He said the jury would not have been able to fully comprehend the summary provided to them and therefore, would have struggled to come to the trial outcome.

“These allegations, these directions are not capable of being understood readily by a jury,” Mr Game said.

Wardell’s barrister claimed the most integral part of the submissions were written in such a confusing way that even a lawyer would “have a great deal of difficulty understanding what they mean”.

Mr Game said a decision was made during Wardell’s trial to have his non-parole period be half of his remaining life expectancy of 17 years, noting his old age.

However, he said the ruled period of nine years was beyond this.

Mr Game also said the final judgement did not match the seriousness of Wardell’s offending, noting the sexual acts on the two girls were exclusively digital and did not involve his penis.

Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told the court the summary was not confusing and noted the barristers did not have any issues with it when it was originally presented to the jury.

However, Mr Hatfield did concede the non-parole period was slightly above the recommended half of 17 years, albeit, only by six months.

The three justice bench of Justice Belinda Rigg SC, Justice Robertson Wright SC and Mark Ierace SC adjourned to reserve their decision.

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