Jury finds Toowoomba man not guilty of rape at CBD nightclub

Nearly a year after the incident was alleged to have happened at a Toowoomba nightclub, a jury took about 90 minutes to decide the fate of a man accused of rape.

The Cube Hotel on Margaret and Neil Streets. Photo Bev Lacey

A Toowoomba man has been found not guilty of raping a woman at a popular CBD nightclub.

It took just over 90 minutes on Thursday for the jury in the Toowoomba District Court to return a verdict on the 18-year-old African migrant, who cannot be named in order to protect the complainant’s privacy.

The man was accused of having penetrated the complainant with his finger while they partied with a large group of friends on the top floor of the Cube Hotel on Ruthven Street on August 2, 2020.

The court heard the defendant had met the complainant for the first time a few hours before the alleged assault and that he was friends with her boyfriend.

Prosecutors said CCTV footage showed the two parties talking and laughing before the incident was supposed to have occurred, among other evidence like phone calls.

However defence barrister Stephen Kissick said the evidence presented cast doubt on the defendant’s guilt.