Cairns man raped woman who offered him refuge, court hears

A Cairns man raped a woman who had given him a place to stay after he lost his job in an “abhorrent” betrayal of trust, a court has heard.

A Cairns man raped a woman who had given him a place to stay after he lost his job in an “abhorrent” betrayal of trust, a court has heard.

The 42-year-old, who cannot be named as it could identify his victim, appeared via video link in the Cairns District Court this month where he pleaded guilty to one count of rape.

Crown prosecutor Claudia Georgouras told the court the woman offered the man a place to stay after he had lost his job due to spiralling alcohol and cannabis abuse, the result of a relationship breakdown.

But the drug and alcohol abuse continued at his new place of residence and the woman asked him to leave.

Defence barrister Michael Dalton said his client had no memory of what happened next.

The court heard the man, seemingly taking offence to the request to leave, grabbed the woman and told her “I’m going to get a root from somewhere”.

He then wandered off into the spare room looking for his phone, the court heard.

After the woman followed him, the man recommenced his assault, pushing her onto a bed and raping her as she repeatedly told him to stop.

The Cairns Courthouse. Picture: Brendan Radke.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, the woman described how her assailant was “so much stronger than me” and how she was frightened and depressed in the wake of the assault.

“The house was a home full of happiness. Now it is darkness,” she wrote.

“I just sit on my couch and cry.

“I have nightmares every night where it replays over and over again in my head. It repeats itself exactly as it happened.

“I am an emotional wreck. I just lie there waiting to die.”

Mr Dalton said his client’s offending was consistent with an overall picture of a man who is ruled by substance abuse, or had been.

Judge Brad Farr SC sentenced the man to six years and six months imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date in November 2022.

Originally published as Cairns man raped woman who offered him refuge, court hears