Peter Andrew Tierney, 53, pleads guilty to rape in Bendigo County Court

A Swan Hill dairy farmer who “wanted a quickie” to celebrate his birthday raped a woman, who is so traumatised she can’t sleep and “hates all males”.

Swan Hill dairy farmer Peter Andrew Tierney has pleaded guilty to rape in the Bendigo County Court.

A Swan Hill dairy farmer raped a woman because he wanted a “quickie” to celebrate his birthday, a court has heard.

Peter Andrew Tierney, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of rape in the Bendigo County Court.

The court heard that Tierney sexually violated his victim after entering her home in the morning in January 2021.

According to evidence, Tierney entered her property and stood by her bedroom window, asking if he “could have a quickie for my birthday”, to which the victim did not reply.

The court heard that Tierney then entered the house via the unlocked back door a few hours later, entering the victim’s bedroom and exposing his penis.

The victim said “you’re getting nothing” and rolled away from him to face the wall.

The court heard that Tierney then climbed on top of the victim as she lay face down, before saying “I better get off ya because you’ll call it rape”.

Tierney then raped his victim, who did not say anything, before she began crying and ran to the shower.

The victim told her daughter and her daughter’s partner about the incident the following day.

The court heard Peter Andrew Tierney works as a dairy farmer.

Police attended at a house across the road for an unrelated matter when the victim and her daughter told a police officer some of what had happened.

Tierney was arrested later that day, and during his interview made full admissions to what had happened.

The prosecution read the victim’s impact statement to the court.

The victim said since the rape occurred “I’m not the same person”, and referred to being “lost”.

She said that Tierney’s offending had deeply affected her relationship with her son, as she began to “hate all males” and blamed him for not protecting her.

“It preys on my mind every single day”, she said.

The victim also said she suffered from a severe lack of sleep.

“Sleeping is out of the question for me”, she said.

The defence argued that Tierney’s offending was in the lower range, and noted that he had no criminal history.

The defence also noted his intellectual disability, and that Tierney was immediately remorseful in the aftermath of the rape.

Judge Sarah Leighfield said that there was a possibility of a combination sentence, with a “community aspect” potentially being “quite helpful” in Tierney’s case.

Tierney, who is out on bail, will be sentenced on Wednesday, March 27.