Finley’s Melissa Nixon has rape & sexual assault charges dropped

The case against a woman in an alleged rape has been thrown out after the prosecution were told their case was like a “fish flopping around on the deck of a boat”.

Daniel Jones will face trial over an alleged rape of a woman at Koonoomoo, but Melissa Nixon will not after all charges against her were thrown out in court.

A woman accused of taking part in a rape at a Bachelor and Spinsters ball has had all charges against her dropped — and taxpayers will pay back almost $30,000 in her legal fees — after a magistrate likened the prosecution’s case to that of a “fish flopping around on the deck of a boat”.

Melissa Nixon, along with her partner Daniel Jones, were accused of raping and sexually assaulting a woman at Koonoomoo on June 25, 2023.

It had been alleged Mr Jones and Ms Nixon entered a tent where the woman was sleeping and raped and sexually assaulted her for a number of hours.

The prosecution told a committal hearing at the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court Mr Jones slid his hand up the alleged victim’s oodie before touching her breasts while saying “we love you, we love you”.

The court heard Ms Nixon was initially treated as a witness by both NSW Police and then Victoria Police in relation to the alleged rape but that changed and she was charged on January 3 this year.

Prosecutor Dan Coombes told the court on Thursday Ms Nixon had been complicit in the rape charges and was directly involved in the sexual touching of the woman.

The pair were recently engaged before the alleged rape occurred.

However, her lawyer Shane Gardner argued the prosecution case against Ms Nixon was “not within a bull’s roar of a case”.

“No jury could conceivably convict her of rape,” Mr Gardner said.

Mr Gardner told the court there was “pure darkness” in the tent and Ms Nixon could not have known about any alleged touching by Mr Jones.

Therefore, she could not have been complicit in any alleged rape, he said.

“There was no visibility … It was not possible for my client to see what’s going on,” Mr Gardner said.

He said Ms Nixon had told her then-partner “she said no darl”, which he argued only weakened the prosecution case further.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski agreed, saying there was “no evidence that could support charges of rape by Ms Nixon”.

He said the prosecution’s case continued to change throughout the committal hearing like “fish flopping around on the deck of a boat”.

“(The case against Ms Nixon seemed) made up as you go,” he said.

The court heard that Mr Jones was no longer living with Ms Nixon.

The court heard the police did not seek the opinion of the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) when they charged the couple and that Ms Nixon had no prior criminal history.

Mr Jones is not living with Ms Nixon anymore and had no fixed address, the court heard.

The total costs for Ms Nixon’s court appearances and legal fees totalled $29,050, which the prosecution will cover.

Mr Jones was committed to stand trial and will face a directions hearing in the Melbourne County Court on November 7.

He has entered a plea of not guilty.