Robert Malcolm Lawson found not guilty of rape in Cairns District Court

A 51-year-old woman claimed she was asleep in her own bed when a man she had been drinking with raped her, but a Cairns District Court jury found otherwise.

A Cairns District Court jury took only a few hours to find a man not guilty of rape.

Robert Malcolm Lawson, 58, from Cardwell, pleaded not guilty to rape at the start of his trial on Monday and the jury took only two hours on Thursday to deliver a verdict.

It was a retrial after a previous jury was unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict.

“This has been a long four years, people in a small town talk, but I am innocent,” Mr Lawson said.

Defence barrister Kelly Goodwin urged the jury to pay close attention to the woman’s evidence to assess her reliability and credibility and whether details changed over time.

Crown prosecutor Matt Hancock told the court the woman, 51, developed a friendship with the man everyone knew as “Mal” and he would come over to her place a couple of times a week for a few drinks.

Robert Malcolm Lawson, 58, who has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman while she was asleep in her bed, leaves Cairns District Court with his legal counsel. Picture: Bronwyn Farr

It was alleged that one night in late 2017, Mr Lawson arrived about 2pm and the pair drank together until 9pm, when the woman said she was going to bed and asked Mr Lawson to leave, the court was told.

She alleged she woke to find Mr Lawson raping her.

Robert Malcolm Lawson, 58, has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman while she was asleep in her bed. Picture: Bronwyn Farr

Mr Goodwin asked the jury to consider if there was any evidence to support a different version of events.

“Does she make fair and reasonable concessions, or sweeping blanket denials … you should pay particular attention to her evidence and contrast it with the evidence of other witnesses, consider changes in detail and consider if or how that changes over time,” Mr Goodwin said.

Originally published as Robert Malcolm Lawson found not guilty of rape in Cairns District Court