Trial set for Sydney lawyer Steven Mercael to fight sexual assault charge

A Sydney criminal lawyer has been given a trial date to fight an allegation by police he sexually assaulted a woman in 2019.

Steven Mercael outside Parramatta Local Court. Picture: John Grainger

A Sydney criminal lawyer who’s been charged with aggravated sexual assault will go on trial next year to try and clear his name.

Police allege in a fact sheet Steven Mercael struck a woman across her face before forcing her to perform a sex act on him against her will in Parramatta in December, 2019.

The 27-year-old, who is on bail and remains practising in NSW’s courts, denies any wrongdoing.

Judge Steven Hanley, SC, recently set down a trial date for Mercael on February 14, 2022, when he will fight one charge of aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm in the Parramatta District Court.

Steven Mercael (right) with his lawyer Greg Goold. Picture: John Grainger

He has already pleaded not guilty to the charge and the trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Mercael is next listed for a call over in that same court in September this year when lawyers will likely discuss the logistics of his trial.

He is a rising solicitor in Sydney’s legal world and has acted for clients in cases reported in the media, including computer gamer Luke Munday who unintentionally videoed himself assaulting his partner while playing Fortnite in 2018.

More recently since news broke of his charges Mercael has represented Sydney man Zigalo Sogora, who was charged after allegedly being enlisted by another man to attack a western Sydney home connected to an Iraqi MP in return for payments.

According to the police fact sheet, Mercael allegedly drank booze and took cocaine with the woman before making sexual advances to her.

Police will allege she pleaded “please stop, let me go”, while throughout the incident Mercael is claimed to have said “you dirty slut”, “I always get what I want” and “I know you enjoy it”.

It is alleged that afterwards the woman immediately told a friend before they went to Sutherland police station where photos were taken of bruising on her knees.

In a statement, the woman gave a description of a distinctive pair of underwear worn by Mercael during the alleged assault along with a tattoo on his thigh.