Former semi-pro NBL1 Melbourne basketballer Corey Fiddes loses appeal bid against rape conviction and sentence

A former semi-pro basketballer and real estate agent who raped a woman after a dancefloor kiss has appealed a conviction and jail sentence after attempting to label his victim as a liar.

Corey Fiddes has lost his appeal to overturn a rape conviction.

A disgraced star Melbourne basketballer who was jailed after he raped a woman multiple times has had an appeal application dismissed after trying to discredit his victim.

Corey Fiddes appealed the 40-month jail term and conviction on June 26 in the Court of Appeal, after a jury found him guilty of three counts of rape in March last year.

In published decisions released on Thursday, Judges Jonathan Beach, Maree Kennedy and Rowena Orr concluded that “while the applicant’s proposed appeal was sufficiently arguable to justify a grant of leave to appeal … the appeal must be dismissed”.

In court documents seen by the Herald Sun, Fiddes’ lawyers argued the victim’s evidence “contained so many lies, discrepancies and inadequacies that no acting jury reasonably could have been satisfied” of his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Fiddes was working as a real estate agent at the time of the offending.

The “lies and discrepancies” referred to the victim’s inconsistent evidence surrounding her drug use on the night of the rape.

Judges Orr, Kennedy and Beach’s decision stated that “even if the complainant lied in an attempt to conceal her use of illicit drugs, her evidence about the specific circumstances of each of the charged offences was both credible and reliable”.

During the trial in March last year, the jury was directed that “people may not remember all the details of a sexual offence or may not describe a sexual offence in the same way every time they have to speak about it”.

The trio of judges concluded that Fiddes’ “application to appeal should be dismissed”.

At the time of the offence in early-2021, Fiddes was working as a real estate agent and a semi-professional basketballer in a lower NBL league.

The court heard he had encountered the victim on a dancefloor prior to raping her.

Fiddes attended Wesley College before he accepted an illustrious basketball scholarship at the University of California.

Fiddes was a semi-pro basketball player and had attended the University of California on a scholarship.

He also attended the top US college’s San Francisco campus only to return to Melbourne 12 months later due to an injury and a family tragedy.

Fiddes then sought work as a landscaper while playing semi-professional basketball in the NBL1 league after he returned to Melbourne in 2019.

Fiddes scored his real estate job but was forced to quit after he was initially charged with five counts of rape.

In the trial, the victim told the court she had suffered immense physical and mental issues following the multiple rapes.

“I have a chronic desire to kill myself … before this nightmare began I was so happy,” she said.

Fiddes has 24 months remaining of his 40-month sentence.