Nathan Teece: Rapist’s bid to overturn seven year sentence fails

A Gold Coast surfing identity’s son who was convicted of raping a sleeping woman has failed in his bid to have his guilty verdict squashed.

A GOLD Coast surfing identity’s son who was convicted of raping a sleeping woman has failed in his bid to have his guilty verdict squashed.

Nathan “Nappa” Teece also failed to have his seven year sentence reduced or his eligibility for parole brought forward.

Teece was found guilty in the Southport District Court after a week-long trial of raping a woman while she slept after a week long trial in April and May last year.

Nathan Teece was found guilty of rape in the Southport District Court. Photo: Facebook

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The 32-year-old forced himself on the woman at a house after a night of drinking in Burleigh in February 2016.

She woke up to Teece raping her and screamed.

Her husband found Teece hiding in the closet.

During Teece’s sentencing the victim gave the court a harrowing account of the attack, the invasive forensic procedures police performed afterwards and the ongoing psychological impact.

“I hate my arms for not being able to fight for me. I hate my legs for not being able to kick you off. I hate my mind for not figuring out a way to get you off of me,” the woman told a courtroom during Teece’s sentencing.

“I hate that in the end I just had to wait for you to decide when it was over.”

Teece, the son of Gold Coast surfing personality Terry “Tappa” Teece, tried to appeal the conviction saying the guilty verdict was “unsafe and unsatisfactory” and “there was a miscarriage of justice”.

Teece’s lawyers tried to argue he should not have been found guilty because the absence of DNA from swabs, absence of witnesses or independent evidence supporting penetration, the woman’s level of intoxication and what she was wearing.

Court of Appeal Judge Anthe Philippides said the woman’s version of events had remained consistent from when she first told her husband until trial.

“The complaint’s credibility and reliability was bolstered by her immediate and consistent account,” she said.

Nathan Teece (left). Pic: Facebook.

Judge Philippides said there was no evidence the woman’s intoxication was enough that she “passed out or could not control her actions”.

Teece’s lawyers also tried to argue his parole eligibility date should have been set for after he served three years and rather than halfway at three and a half years.

“The decision to set no recommendation for parole in the circumstances of this case, where (Teece) was convicted after trial for the rape of a sleeping woman in her bed, breaching her trust and that of her husband with long lasting adverse impact for her, was not unreasonable or plainly unjust,” Judge Philippides said.

Teece will be eligible for parole in October 2021.