Judge throws out child sex case against top Australian swimming coach Scott Volkers
Five child sex charges against top Aussie swimming coach Scott Volkers have been thrown out of court in Brisbane today. Here’s why the judge ordering the case be permanently stayed.
QLD News
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A JUDGE has sensationally thrown out the case against top Australian swimming coach Scott Volkers who was charged over allegations of child sex offending.
Judge David Reid this morning ordered a permanent stay of the indictment against Volkers which contained five charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
The former top swimming coach to stars including Susie O’Neill and Sam Riley was charged in 2017 with five counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16.
The charges related to two teenage girls, with the offending allegedly occurring at Aspley and Bald Hills north of Brisbane from 1984-87.
Volkers was originally charged in 2002 over the alleged incidents, but the prosecution was later discontinued.
In January during a pre-trial hearing in the Brisbane District Court, Judge David Reid was told the 2017 decision to recharge Volkers with the same child sex offences was unfair.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC argued the charges should be thrown out because the legal proceedings gave rise to “unacceptable unfairness”.
“The institution of proceedings and the continuation (of them) constitutes an unjustifiable oppression of the accused, in a legal sense, such as to justify a permanent stay,” he said.
Central to the argument for discontinuing the charges being made by the Sydney-based silk is the decision of former Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions Michael Byrne QC to re-prosecute the matter.
Judge Reid today handed down his decision in relation to the January hearing, ordering the case against Volkers be permanently stayed.
Originally published as Judge throws out child sex case against top Australian swimming coach Scott Volkers