Accused campsite rapist has convictions quashed on appeal
The Court of Appeal has quashed the convictions of a man found guilty of raping a woman at a campsite, after finding “deliberate deceit” in the discrepancies in the alleged victim’s claims.
A man jailed for more than a decade for alleged rape and false imprisonment has been acquitted by the Court of Appeal, after three justices concluded the complainant was a person of “dubious honesty”.
The 44-year-old was found guilty by a jury on six charges in May 2023 – making a threat to kill, common assault, attempted rape, false imprisonment and rape – following a trial in the County Court at Geelong.
During proceedings the jury was directed to acquit on two rape charges, before also returning not guilty verdicts for a further 10 charges.
A number of the charges were allegedly committed against a woman who the man was in a relationship with from 2019 and occurred at a campsite in January 2020.
In September 2023, the man was sentenced to a maximum of 14 years jail, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
The man appealed, taking the matter to the Court of Appeal in a hearing before justices Philip Priest, David Beach and Stephen Kaye on September 25.
On Thursday, the justices handed down their judgment, quashing the man’s convictions and finding the complainant lacked credibility.
“It is plain that there were many discrepancies and inconsistencies in the various accounts that (the complainant) gave to police, to Dr Brook, and in her evidence at committal and at trial,” the justices wrote.
“Although some of those could, perhaps, be explained away as mere mistakes, or as innocent drug-induced hallucination or delusion, it is abundantly clear that many were the product of deliberate deceit.”
The complaint lied and told untruths the justices said, finding that: “Quite apart from (the complainant’s) various lies exposed at trial, the evidence otherwise suggested that she was a person of dubious honesty”.
The justices concluded that they “do not consider that it was open to the jury on the whole of the evidence to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the applicant’s guilt”.
“(The victim’s) evidence lacked credibility to an extent that, when she was exposed in a lie — as she was on a significant number of occasions — she was unable to offer any explanation for why she had lied,” they wrote.
The complainant’s evidence contained “manifold discrepancies and inconsistencies”.
“The probative force of her evidence must be seen as being significantly reduced by her drug use which caused her to experience hallucinations and delusions,” the justices wrote.
“And clearly, the credibility and reliability of her evidence was tainted by her palpable concern to shift blame onto the applicant.”
The justices said they harboured reasonable doubt about the man’s guilt, and were led to conclude “there is the significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted”.
The man had pleaded guilty to five other charges, including car theft, reckless conduct and criminal damage, prior to his trial.
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Originally published as Accused campsite rapist has convictions quashed on appeal
