Gold Coast man accused of rape and threatening to ‘put a bullet’ in the head of his partner has conviction overturned

A Gold Coast man accused of raping his partner and threatening to “put a bullet” in her head has had his conviction quashed due to an error. Here’s what happened.

A Gold Coast man accused of raping his partner and threatening to “put a bullet” in her head has had his conviction quashed because a jury was given incorrect directions by a judge.

It is the second time in two months a rape conviction from a trial overseen by Judge Rowan Jackson in the Southport District Court has been overturned.

This week the Court of Appeal in Brisbane ordered the man, who cannot be named in order to protect his partner, have his conviction for two counts of rape and one count each of choking and common assault be overturned and a retrial ordered.

It’s alleged the man raped his partner. Picture: iStock

It was alleged that late on April 9, 2018 the couple were at home on the Gold Coast when the woman told the man she did not want to have sex that night.

He persisted and she refused, it was alleged.

He then allegedly raped her.

After the alleged attack the woman told him he forced himself on her. He allegedly responded: “No, I didn’t. Shut up. You’re my girlfriend. Go the f*** to sleep.”

The woman allegedly confronted him the next morning, again saying he forced himself on her.

It is alleged the man responded: “You know, I should put a bullet in your head for even saying that.”

In his findings, Justice Walter Sofronoff wrote that Judge Jackson gave incorrect direction to the jury regarding evidence of the woman’s distress following the alleged rape.

It is stated in the Court of Appeal documents that the jury was told the woman’s evidence showed she was distressed and this would corroborate her story.

“In a case which depended entirely upon acceptance of the complainant’s evidence, a direction that her evidence that she was distressed on the morning of April 10, 2018, if the jury accepted it, constituted corroboration cannot be regarded as having no significance,” Justice Sofronoff wrote.

“This was not a case like some others in which the distress, if it existed, must have been the result of the offending conduct because there was no other cause.”

Charges of choking and common assault were also overturned.

Justice Sofronoff noted a draft of what was determined to be an incorrect direction was given to the prosecution and defence prior to Judge Jackson addressing the jury.

Neither party raised an objection.

The overturning of this man’s conviction comes less than two months after Benjamin Pearce’s rape conviction was quashed after a litany of errors in the trial held before Judge Jackson.

In that case, the Court of Appeal determined errors included a juror hiding a note about a conversation with the bailiff.

The juror was left in the same room as the other jurors for 50 minutes before Judge Jackson discharged that juror.

The Court of Appeal ordered a retrial but Crown prosecutors this month opted to drop the charges.

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