Man to serve at least 15 months for attempted rape of unconscious woman

A Darwin man has been sentenced after trying to rape an unconscious woman at a bus stop, in a case that was described as “regrettably prevalent” in the Northern Territory.

Stanley Fry was convicted of the attempted rape of an unconscious 27-year-old woman.

A DARWIN man will serve at least 15 months in prison after trying to rape an unconscious woman at a bus stop, in a case that was described as “regrettably prevalent” in the Northern Territory.

Stanley Fry, 49, appeared in Darwin Supreme Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of a 27-year-old woman in February of this year.

The court heard Fry was at a bus stop in Knuckey Lagoon when the victim arrived in a very intoxicated state, intending to catch a bus to Palmerston.

She passed out soon after from intoxication on the ground, at which point Fry lay her on her back, stripped her from the waist down and began trying to have sex with her.

He stopped when a bus with two transit safety officers passed and saw what was happening and intervened.

An off duty police officer also happened to be passing and stopped to arrest Fry.

Crown prosecutor Stephen Geary told the court this case is just “the tip of the iceberg” of the problem of women who become unconscious from intoxication being taken advantage of in Darwin.

“It is a really serious, prevalent offence that rarely comes to court, but when it does it needs to be severely punished,” he said.

“A message to the community is to step in when they come across an unconsciousness Aboriginal woman – we need to protect these people and alert the authorities.”

The court heard via the victim’s impact statement that she didn’t realise she had been assaulted until she woke up in an ambulance.

“I freaked out and I woke up in the ambulance bed with no clothes on,” the court heard.

“I still have nightmares about what happened to me.”

During sentencing, Chief Justice Michael Grant told the court “offending of this nature is regrettably prevalent in the Northern Territory community.”

Fry was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, with a non-parole period of 15 months.