Bowen Basin miner found guilty to mine camp rape

A jury found a Queensland mine worker guilty of raping a sleeping while both were at work at a mine camp, with a judge noting he showed no “remorse or insight” after his offending. UPDATED

Man has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape at a Bowen Basin mine camp in early 2020. Picture: istock

A Bowen Basin mine worker has been called “calculated” and without “remorse” after a jury found him guilty of raping a sleeping woman while the pair were both at a mine camp, a court heard.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who is a New Zealand citizen will be deported once he is released from jail.

He had denied the allegations from early 2020, pleading not guilty in Mackay District Court on Tuesday to rape.

It was alleged the pair had been staying at the same Bowen Basin mine camp and that she had woken up to him digitally raping her and asking “what’s the time”.

An eight-man, four-woman jury found him guilty on Thursday afternoon following a three-day trial.

“It was your right to defend ... But you cannot claim a mitigation that you have demonstrated any remorse or insight, because in my view you have not,” Judge Jennifer Rosengren said, adding ongoing emotional and mental consequences for the victim were an “inevitable” result.

“Her distress in the witness box was palpable.

“Your instructions regarding her level of intoxication... seemed calculated.”

The man was jailed for three years to serve half with 365 days declared as time already served on remand.

EARLIER: Man accused of raping sleeping friend at Qld mine camp

A mine worker is accused of asking a woman “what’s the time” when she woke up while he was allegedly digitally raping her in her bed, a court heard.

“Those words are going to be incredibly important in this case,” crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton told the eight-man, four-woman jury during his opening address.

“That’s what (he) said as he had his hand in (her) underwear... without her consent.”

The man, who cannot be named yet for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape at a Bowen Basin mine camp in early 2020.

Mackay District Court heard the pair had been staying at the same workers camp when it is alleged the offending occurred.

“What’s the time... That phrase is going to be important in this case because it’s the basis for which (she) says it’s the defendant that was doing this, alongside his silhouette,” Mr Sutton said.

“It’s the voice of the man that she had been working with for some time, they caught the same bus.”

The court heard they had been out drinking the night before and she had asked the man to “wake her up if she wasn’t moving... by about 4am”.

Mr Sutton said she has alleged she woke to him digitally raping her at 4am and saying words to the effect of “what’s the time”.

“She didn’t consent to that act and that’s what gives rise to... the count of rape,” Mr Sutton said.

The court heard she got up and showered and he was gone, and she started work when she told a number of people her allegations.

Barrister Adam Mason, who gave a short opening before the first witness was called, said the case was “what lawyers would refer to as an identity case”.

“You’ll not be asked to determine facts as to whether or not someone was consenting,” he said.

“You’ll be judges of the facts to determine what happened in the room and who it was.”

Mr Mason asked the jury to keep an open mind until they had heard all the evidence.

The court was closed while the woman gave evidence.

The case, under Judge Jennifer Rosengren, continues.

Originally published as Bowen Basin miner found guilty to mine camp rape