The Henchman, Miami owner Jared Ian Fairall found not guilty of rape at end of Southport District Court trial
The fate of the owner of a popular Miami venue who was accused of raping a customer has now been decided by a jury. Read the full update here.
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The owner of a popular Gold Coast bar accused of raping a customer at his home broke down in tears in court after being found not guilty by a jury.
The Henchman owner Jared Ian Fairall faced trial on one count of rape in Southport District Court this week.
He entered a plea of not guilty to the charge on the first day of proceedings on Monday.
The 34-year-old was acquitted of the rape charge on Friday after several hours of jury deliberations, which began on Thursday afternoon.
It was previously alleged Mr Fairall raped the woman on the evening of February 1, 2020, after meeting her while working at his Miami bar.
Evidence had been heard from the woman, several of her friends and a second bartender who were all at The Henchman that night, and a forensic medicine specialist throughout the trial.
Mr Fairall did not give or call evidence during the proceedings.
The eight-woman, four-man jury handed down their unanimous verdict in an emotionally charged courtroom on Friday.
The gallery was jam-packed with both Mr Fairall and his previously alleged victim’s loved ones.
Mr Fairall burst into tears and repeatedly thanked both the jury and Judge Nicole Kefford as his court case came to a close.
His supporters let out a collective sigh of relief and embraced one another following the verdict.
Friends and family of the woman were also visibly emotional, with one woman sobbing as she and fellow supporters slowly filed out of the courtroom.
Mr Fairall spoke alongside his lawyer Farshad Sarabi outside the Southport courthouse, again expressing his relief and desire to put the allegations behind him.
“It’s been a long three years with a lot of harassment and bullying,” he said.
“My friends and family have been vindicated and the people who stood by me, and it’s been a long road.”
Mr Sarabi said the bar owner was hoping to revitalise his Miami venue moving forward.
“My client has suffered, his business has suffered, his family has suffered, and we’re just thankful for the Australian judicial system,” he said.
“There’s really no winners or losers – at the end of the day, you’re just hoping justice prevails.”
This week’s proceedings were a retrial for Mr Fairall, after his first trial earlier this year was scrapped at the beginning of the second day.
The Bulletin reported at the time that the jury was not told why it was declared a mistrial.
Jury begins deliberations in trial for rape-accused bartender
November 17: The fate of a Gold Coast bar worker accused of raping a customer at his home now rests with a jury, which has been sent out to deliberate late in the fourth day of the man’s trial.
The Henchman employee Jared Ian Fairall allegedly raped a woman at his apartment near the Miami bar on February 1, 2020, after meeting her at work.
He pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape on the first day of his trial in Southport District Court this week.
Thursday’s proceedings centred on closing arguments from both the prosecution and defence counsel – each party’s final chance to address the jury before deliberations.
The court heard Mr Fairall accepted he had penetrated the alleged victim during their brief sexual encounter, but maintained he had stopped as soon as the woman withdrew consent.
Crown prosecutor Ben Scarrabelotti told jurors they should remember Mr Fairall had denied any penetration twice in his initial recorded police interview.
He claimed the same audio recording – the only evidence heard from the 34-year-old during the trial – showed Mr Fairall was “casual” and “chauvinistic” in dealing with the authorities.
“He was putting (the woman) down, trying to diminish her … telling them she was acting like a ‘f**king idiot’, like a ‘f**king schoolgirl’, who was ‘literally throwing herself at him’,” Mr Scarrabelotti said.
“He denied penetrating (the alleged victim) because he knew he was guilty of raping her – there just isn’t any other sensible explanation, in the Crown’s submission.”
Mr Scarrabelotti said the jury should consider the alleged victim a reliable and honest witness, and attribute any gaps in her memory to her distressed emotional state at the time.
“She was plain about the fact that she was interested in Mr Fairall to begin with, (and) she was open about the fact she went to Mr Fairall’s house where they kissed and he touched her breast consensually,” he said.
“Just because she consented to one thing, (it) doesn’t necessarily mean she consented to the next.”
Defence barrister Chris Wilson argued the evidence heard throughout the trial was more logically explained by a scenario in which Mr Fairall stopped sexual intercourse as soon as the woman withdrew consent.
He told the jury that witness evidence and CCTV footage played to the court earlier this week depicted the alleged victim showing a clear interest in Mr Fairall, and contended her later emotional distress was anger at her treatment, rather than trauma after being raped.
“She probably wanted something a little more subtle and nuanced, spending time,” Mr Wilson said.
“He just rushed straight at it. Bit of a kiss, bit of a cuddle, bit of a fondle – go.
“That would certainly leave a woman feeling violated, you might think, particularly if it had been so clumsy as the clothes remained on and there were some injuries.”
Mr Wilson claimed the woman’s evidence was also inconsistent with other testimony given during the trial, including text messages from another employee at The Henchman to Mr Fairall saying she spent up to 15 minutes demanding to see him after the alleged assault.
He also told the jury to remember that regardless of whether or not they “liked” his client’s general treatment of the woman, there was a “very big difference” between morally wrong and rape.
The jury was yet to reach a verdict at the time of print.
Deliberations are expected to continue on Friday.
Trial delayed for barman accused of raping customer
November 16: The final pieces of evidence have been heard in the trial of a Gold Coast bar worker accused of raping a customer.
Jared Ian Fairall pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape at the beginning of his trial in Southport District Court this week.
The Henchman employee is alleged to have raped a woman in his apartment near the Miami bar on the evening of February 1, 2020, after meeting her at his workplace.
Crown prosecutor Ben Scarrabelotti submitted evidence on Wednesday about the DNA samples collected from the woman in a forensic medical examination after the alleged assault.
He told the jury the DNA analysis indicated it was “more than 100-billion times more likely” that Mr Fairall contributed to the semen samples found during the examination of the alleged victim.
The same expert analysis suggested it was not possible to determine when the woman had sustained the bruises found on her legs during the examination.
Mr Scarrabelotti then closed the prosecution case.
Mr Fairall’s defence barrister, Chris Wilson, said his client would neither give nor call evidence during the trial.
Judge Nicole Kefford told the jury the remaining proceedings would be delayed until Thursday, as the parties were not expected to receive necessary court transcripts until Wednesday evening.
Evidence heard on previous days of the trial has included testimony from the alleged victim, Mr Fairall’s first interview with police, and several of the woman’s workmates who were with her at The Henchman that night.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
‘They rape people here’: Bartender accused of sex attack
November 15: A woman allegedly raped by a bartender at a popular Gold Coast venue was angry, crying, and shoeless when she ran back to her friends after the alleged assault, a court has heard.
The Henchman bar worker Jared Ian Fairall is accused of raping a customer in his home near the Miami bar on February 1, 2020.
He pleaded not guilty to the rape charge on the first day of his trial in Southport District Court on Monday.
Several of the alleged victim’s workmates were among those to give evidence in the second day of proceedings on Tuesday.
The jury was told they had been at the same birthday party at The Henchman on the night of the alleged rape, and remembered their friend chatting and joking with Mr Fairall throughout the evening.
One of the witnesses said she realised the alleged victim had not returned from her last trip to the bar and tried to call her, but the woman had left her phone on their table.
“Shortly after that (the alleged victim) returned to the table, and she was running and had no shoes on,” one of the woman’s friends said.
“(She) was really emotional. She was upset, she was crying, she seemed agitated and was quite angry.”
The jury was told the woman said to her friends she had been “violated” and said: “This place is f**ked, they rape people here.”
It was when the woman was waiting out the front of The Henchman for an Uber that she told them about the alleged rape, the court heard.
Witnesses said their friend gave them more details of the alleged assault after they arrived at a Nobby’s Beach bar later that night, and they encouraged her to report it to police.
Defence barrister Chris Wilson asked one of the woman’s friends whether it was her who had first used the word ‘rape’, rather than the alleged victim, but the suggestion was strongly denied.
A forensic specialist who completed a medical examination on the alleged victim at Gold Coast University Hospital also gave evidence on Tuesday.
She told the jury the alleged victim presented with several small bruises on her thighs and her genitalia, which could have been caused by blunt force trauma.
It was heard there was no way to determine consent based on the injuries alone.
Mr Fairall was supported by several loved ones in the courtroom gallery through both days of the trial.
His arresting officer described Mr Fairall as “very cooperative” throughout the initial police investigation in her testimony on Tuesday.
An audio recording of Mr Fairall’s initial interview with police was played to the court, in which he repeatedly denied any non-consensual sexual encounter.
He could be heard saying he was shaking and in disbelief when speaking with police at his home.
“She was literally throwing herself at me. Sexual inneundos, f**king to the point where it was beyond obvious that she wanted to have sex with me,” Mr Fairall said.
“We were getting very intimate to say the least … it wasn’t any question of where we were going or what we were doing, I wasn’t dragging her or forcing her or anything like that.
“As soon as she said no, I got up and asked her to leave.”
Mr Fairall also claimed the alleged victim was someone he “wouldn’t go there (with) on a normal day” and had been acting like a “f**king schoolgirl” when trying to get his attention while he was serving other customers at the bar.
The trial will continue on Wednesday.
Trial begins for bartender accused of raping customer
November 14: A trial is under way for the worker of a popular Gold Coast bar who stands accused of raping a customer at his home.
The Henchman employee Jared Ian Fairall pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape in Southport District Court on Monday.
It was heard the 34-year-old was working at the Miami bar on the evening of February 1, 2020, when his alleged victim was celebrating a friend’s birthday at the venue.
Crown prosecutor Ben Scarrabelotti said the pair exchanged “friendly banter” the first time Mr Fairall served the woman and continued to flirt and chat throughout the night.
He said Mr Fairall made the woman the wrong drink as a joke and threw ice down her top at various points in the evening.
“They were chatting back in the bar area and he asked her if she wanted to get a drink somewhere else,” Mr Scarrabelotti said.
“He then led (the alleged victim) by the hand out of the bar and over to his place, which happened to be right next door.”
The jury, comprised of eight women and four men, was told Mr Fairall and the woman kissed consensually when they went to his apartment.
Mr Scarrabelotti said Mr Fairall allegedly started rubbing the woman’s thigh, to which she said “no”, and then he became “more forceful” and tried to pull down her pants.
It is alleged Mr Fairall then held down the woman and raped her.
The court heard the woman allegedly freed herself and fled the apartment, returning to her friends at The Henchman and telling them she needed to leave.
Mr Scarrabelotti said the woman and a few of her friends were waiting outside the venue for an Uber when she told them she had been raped.
The woman reported the alleged rape later that night and bruising to her inner thigh and genitalia was noted in the medical examination, the court heard.
The jury was told later testing revealed semen was found on the woman’s genitalia.
Mr Scarrabelotti said Mr Fairall repeatedly denied raping the woman when questioned by police.
He said the bar worker claimed the pair had kissed, but he had then told the woman to leave after she rejected his sexual advances.
Defence barrister Chris Wilson, instructed by Hannay Lawyers, did not make an opening statement.
The alleged victim and two of her workmates who were at The Henchman with her that night gave evidence on the first day of the trial.
Both of the woman’s friends said they remembered the alleged victim and Mr Fairall – who they had jokingly nicknamed “Batman” due to his raspy voice – chatting and flirting during the evening.
The women said they had left before their friend returned from Mr Fairall’s apartment, but were told by her about the alleged rape the following morning.
Other witnesses expected to give evidence this week include more of the woman’s friends, the arresting police officer, and a medical examiner and DNA scientist.
The trial is expected to run for three to four days and will continue tomorrow.
Mr Fairall will remain on bail under his existing conditions until the jury begins its deliberations.
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Originally published as The Henchman, Miami owner Jared Ian Fairall found not guilty of rape at end of Southport District Court trial
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