The Snitch: Beale’s looming costs hearing another DPP headache

Who should be worried about Kurtley Beale’s looming costs hearing? Why is the DPP giving a talk on wellness? And where is Fadi Ibrahim’s dentist? The Snitch is here.

In the current climate where a conga line of District Court judges have been lining up with baseball bats for Sally Dowling SC, you’d have to think the state’s chief prosecutor would be nervously looking at April 5 looming on her calendar.

That’s when rugby star Kurtley Beale’s costs hearing begins in the Sydney District Court.

Beale is applying to have the state pick up the six-figure tab for his lawyers after a jury took very little time in finding him not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman inside an eastern suburbs pub.

Ms Dowling has been under increasing pressure of late, with five judges taking aim at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (ODPP) judgment in pressing ahead with sexual assault cases that were doomed to fail.

Last year, Judge Robert Newlinds SC accused the ODPP of having an “unwritten policy or expectation” that rape cases would be prosecuted even if they had no merit. The judge made the scathing remarks in the case of a man who spent eight months behind bars before being acquitted of sexual assault.

Rugby star Kurtley Beale was found not guilty of sexual assault. Picture: David Swift

So that brings us to Beale’s case; the state’s highest profile sexual assault case in recent years (alongside that of disgraced NRL star Jarryd Hayne).

Beale was accused of forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him in a toilet cubicle inside Bondi’s Beach Rd Hotel in December 2022. Last month a jury took very little time to find him not guilty.

Beale’s lawyers, Margaret Cunneen SC and Lauren MacDougall, made applications before the start of the trial to have the case thrown out, arguing that the evidence was too weak.

Ms Dowling’s office rejected the application and pressed on with the case.

Beale’s legal fees would have been well into the multiple six-figure range for the multi-week trial,

The test for costs being awarded to someone in Beale’s position includes whether a “hypothetical prosecutor”, who had all of the evidence before the case started, would have still elected to run the case.

Beale with Margaret Cunneen SC (centre) and his wife Maddi during the court case. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

You can expect team Beale to be making submissions about the evidence from the other men who were in the cubicle who told the court they heard sounds that didn’t accord with sexual assault being committed.

Then there’s the CCTV that contradicted the complainant’s version about who went into the bathroom first and also showed the apparently friendly interactions between her and Beale in the brief period after the alleged sexual assault.

Anyway, all eyes will be on whether Judge Graham Turnbull SC joins the conga line.

WELL WELL WELLNESS

Still on Ms Dowling, the DPP will be taking the podium for the NSW Bar Association’s Sydney CPD Conference on March 23.

Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC.

According to the run sheet for the day, Ms Dowling will be talking about “managing workload, wellness, and the risk of vicarious trauma”.

She may use lessons straight from her office.

Last year’s “People Matter” employee survey, in which lawyers working at the state’s prosecuting authority shared their thoughts on the state of their workplace, showed the troops were unhappy.

Only 27 per cent of the respondents to the survey said they did not feel burnt out by their workload.

GIVE US A SMILE

Following on from yesterday’s story about Fadi Ibrahim’s $11m court battle against dentist Bill Zafiropoulos, it seems the doctor has been rather scarce of late.

According to Google, Dr Zafiropoulos’ Classic Smiles Cosmetic Dentist in Miranda has been “temporarily closed”.

We’re told he has been hard to locate since he was attacked in the practice by masked men with a claw hammer in February 2023. There is no suggestion Ibrahim was responsible for the attack.

Fadi Ibrahim. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Damian Shaw

Dr William Zafiropoulos. Picture: Facebook

Dr Zafiropoulos’ absence has left a few of his clients in a spot of bother.

We’re told there are a number of them who paid thousands upfront for procedures that were either half done or incomplete.

Rumour has it that one client received 14 packs of tooth aligner Invisalign at Sydney Airport when he was about to board a holiday flight.

Maybe he’s moved to an Uber-dentist style business model?

Snitch’s attempts to contact Dr Zafiropoulos were unsuccessful.

Got a Snitch? Email [e-mail]