Conviction overturned for ex-cricket coach Joshua Collinson charged over alleged bashing of woman

A former Bendigo cricket coach has successfully overturned his conviction after he was found guilty of dragging a woman by the hair down a hallway and bashing her with an oven door.

Joshua Collinson. Picture: Facebook.

A former Bendigo cricketer who was found guilty of a “shocking and harrowing” bashing of a woman has had his conviction overturned.

Joshua Collinson, 37, appealed his conviction and nine month jail sentence in the County Court this week after he was last year found guilty by a magistrate of attacking a woman after a night out with mates at The Bendigo Club in 2022.

The prosecution had alleged Mr Collinson, who told the court he was the “captain-coach” of a local cricket side, perpetrated a vicious assault on a woman after she embarrassed him in front of his friends when she got drunk and made a scene in October 2022.

The complainant had alleged she woke up on the floor of a bedroom to Mr Collinson yelling abuse at her and hitting her.

She alleged he dragged her by the hair down a hallway into the kitchen where he allegedly kicked her and slammed an oven door into her.

She also alleged Mr Collinson grabbed her by the hair, “screamed” and spat in her face.

He was also accused of choking her.

Mr Collinson has always maintained he acted in “self defence”, alleging the woman “came at” him, punching him in the head and kneeing him in the groin.

Joshua Collinson: Facebook.

Mr Collinson said he was “scared for his life” when the woman allegedly “went for the knife block”, claiming he had merely opened the oven door to try and hold her down.

He also said the woman had inflicted the worst injuries to her face herself, alleging she bashed her face against the edge of a bathtub to “set him up”.

The defence argued there was a lack of evidence to prove Mr Collinson had assaulted the woman to the degree of severity she claimed, arguing the complainant’s testimony was unreliable.

The defence further brought the complainant’s character into disrepute, pointing to charges of assault against Mr Collinson she faced at the time.

The prosecution argued there was a “strong circumstantial case” that her injuries came from an assault.

Mr Collinson’s case was reheard before Judge Richard Maidment in the Bendigo County Court on Wednesday and Thursday after Magistrate Sharon McRae convicted and sentenced him at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on February 23, 2024.

After hearing the evidence Judge Maidment said he could not find beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Collinson’s version of events was untrue.
Judge Maidment found the prosecution had not proved beyond reasonable doubt the complainant’s injuries were from an assault by Mr Collinson, rather they could have been self-inflicted or received “accidentally” by having “fallen over” due to her level of intoxication.

Judge Maidment also could not find “sufficient quality” in the complainant’s evidence, finding her to be an unreliable witness.

“I am not satisfied that any of the charges are made out beyond reasonable doubt,” he said, dismissing all the charges.