High-profile Melbourne man called rapist and punched in face shortly after he raped former employee, court hears
A high-profile Melbourne man was called a rapist and punched in the face by his former personal assistant shortly after he raped her at his home, a Victorian court has heard.
But the man’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, told the rape trial on Wednesday that the alleged victim had “massive issues” in relation to her credibility and reliability, including having previously made false allegations against police.
The man, who cannot be named, faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in Victoria’s county court, and has pleaded not guilty. Opening submissions in the case were heard on Wednesday.
The alleged offences occurred in March 2023 after the woman said she spent an evening drinking and taking cocaine with the man while listening to music and watching the football at his friend’s home.
Prosecutor Matthew Fisher told the court that at the end of the night the woman was at the man’s house when he tried to kiss her and sexually assaulted her.
She pushed his hands away and told him “I don’t want this”, Fisher told the court, to which he responded “you’re so sexy”, “I can’t sleep, help me” and “I need this”.
The woman then felt the man rape her twice, Fisher told the court.
“She turned around to face him, and at that point she punched him with her fist to his face, to his nose,” Fisher told the court.
“He grabbed his face and said words to the effect of ‘you’ve broken my nose’.
“She got out of bed and said to him ‘you’re a fucking rapist’.”
Fisher said that the man started saying that he shouldn’t have drunk, that his nose was “fucked” and “why did I do this”, to which she responded “shut the fuck up, you’ve just done this to me, you’re a rapist”.
The woman went to another room and started taking notes of what happened on her phone, before texting her mother, who called the police despite her daughter’s reluctance to involve them.
The police arrived at the property shortly after an officer called the woman about 3am on 24 March 2023.
The officer and two others then spoke to the woman, one of whom recorded the exchange on a body-worn camera. The footage of that 35-minute conversation was expected to be shown to the jury, Fisher said.
The woman had worked for several months as the man’s personal assistant the previous year, and they had resumed contact to discuss other employment opportunities when he invited her to his property.
Fisher said the woman was expected to give evidence that the man previously made sexual advances towards her, but she had made clear she was not attracted to him.
“If I let you do this, if I let you fuck me, you will never respect me as your employee,” the woman said she told the accused after one of these previous advances, the court heard.
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Dann, for the man, said that the woman claimed she continued to stay in the house after the alleged rapes and sexual assault and was reluctant to contact authorities because of a prior allegation involving police that had been found to be false.
She also raised the issue of “recompense” with her mother while she was still at the accused’s house in the aftermath of the incident.
“As the mother is trying to persuade the daughter to leave the premises, the company of the man who has allegedly raped her a number of times, [the complainant] doesn’t want to do that,” Dann told the court on Wednesday.
“[She] sends back messages talking about recompense and trying to resolve things and negotiate.
“So there is a dispute [between the prosecution and defence] about what’s running through her mind … when she’s trying to do that.”
Dann said that much of her account was in dispute, including previous advances that the man was alleged to have made, and that he was consuming cocaine on the night of the incident.
“There is a massive issue in relation to [her] credibility,” Dann said.
“A massive issue in respect to reliability. Massive issue in respect to consistency. Massive issue in respect to plausibility.”
The woman was expected to give evidence before a closed court on Wednesday afternoon. The trial continues.
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A trial is underway in Victoria's county court involving a high-profile Melbourne man accused of rape and sexual assault. The allegations relate to an incident in March 2023 involving his former personal assistant. According to the prosecution, after an evening of socialising, the man sexually assaulted the woman at his home despite her verbal refusal. She reported punching him and verbally identifying his actions as rape. Police attended the property after the woman's mother contacted them; a recorded interaction between police and the woman exists. The defence disputes the credibility of the woman's account, pointing to prior false allegations she has made and contesting several factual claims. The trial continues with the woman expected to give evidence.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
A high-profile Melbourne man was called a rapist and punched in the face by his former personal assistant shortly after he raped her at his home, a Victorian court has heard.
But the man’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, told the rape trial on Wednesday that the alleged victim had “massive issues” in relation to her credibility and reliability, including having previously made false allegations against police.
The man, who cannot be named, faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in Victoria’s county court, and has pleaded not guilty. Opening submissions in the case were heard on Wednesday.
The alleged offences occurred in March 2023 after the woman said she spent an evening drinking and taking cocaine with the man while listening to music and watching the football at his friend’s home.
Prosecutor Matthew Fisher told the court that at the end of the night the woman was at the man’s house when he tried to kiss her and sexually assaulted her.
She pushed his hands away and told him “I don’t want this”, Fisher told the court, to which he responded “you’re so sexy”, “I can’t sleep, help me” and “I need this”.
The woman then felt the man rape her twice, Fisher told the court.
“She turned around to face him, and at that point she punched him with her fist to his face, to his nose,” Fisher told the court.
“He grabbed his face and said words to the effect of ‘you’ve broken my nose’.
“She got out of bed and said to him ‘you’re a fucking rapist’.”
Fisher said that the man started saying that he shouldn’t have drunk, that his nose was “fucked” and “why did I do this”, to which she responded “shut the fuck up, you’ve just done this to me, you’re a rapist”.
The woman went to another room and started taking notes of what happened on her phone, before texting her mother, who called the police despite her daughter’s reluctance to involve them.
The police arrived at the property shortly after an officer called the woman about 3am on 24 March 2023.
The officer and two others then spoke to the woman, one of whom recorded the exchange on a body-worn camera. The footage of that 35-minute conversation was expected to be shown to the jury, Fisher said.
The woman had worked for several months as the man’s personal assistant the previous year, and they had resumed contact to discuss other employment opportunities when he invited her to his property.
Fisher said the woman was expected to give evidence that the man previously made sexual advances towards her, but she had made clear she was not attracted to him.
“If I let you do this, if I let you fuck me, you will never respect me as your employee,” the woman said she told the accused after one of these previous advances, the court heard.
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Dann, for the man, said that the woman claimed she continued to stay in the house after the alleged rapes and sexual assault and was reluctant to contact authorities because of a prior allegation involving police that had been found to be false.
She also raised the issue of “recompense” with her mother while she was still at the accused’s house in the aftermath of the incident.
“As the mother is trying to persuade the daughter to leave the premises, the company of the man who has allegedly raped her a number of times, [the complainant] doesn’t want to do that,” Dann told the court on Wednesday.
“[She] sends back messages talking about recompense and trying to resolve things and negotiate.
“So there is a dispute [between the prosecution and defence] about what’s running through her mind … when she’s trying to do that.”
Dann said that much of her account was in dispute, including previous advances that the man was alleged to have made, and that he was consuming cocaine on the night of the incident.
“There is a massive issue in relation to [her] credibility,” Dann said.
“A massive issue in respect to reliability. Massive issue in respect to consistency. Massive issue in respect to plausibility.”
The woman was expected to give evidence before a closed court on Wednesday afternoon. The trial continues.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
A high-profile Melbourne man faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in Victoria's county court and has pleaded not guilty The alleged offences occurred in March 2023 after the woman spent an evening drinking and taking cocaine with the man at a friend's home before going to his house The woman told the man she did not want sexual contact; he responded with statements including 'you're so sexy', 'I can't sleep, help me' and 'I need this' The woman reported punching the man in the face and verbally identifying him as a rapist before moving to another room and contacting her mother Police attended the property around 3am on 24 March 2023 and recorded a 35-minute interaction with the woman on body-worn camera The woman had previously worked as the man's personal assistant and he had allegedly made earlier sexual advances that she rejected The defence argues the woman has 'massive issues' regarding her credibility and reliability, citing prior false allegations against police The defence disputes whether the man consumed cocaine that night and contests the woman's account of previous sexual advances The defence characterises the woman's reluctance to leave the property and her discussion of 'recompense' as evidence of disputed intent and motivation
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
- A high-profile Melbourne man faces two rape counts and one sexual assault count after allegations involving his former personal assistant in March 2023
- The alleged victim reported being sexually assaulted and raped at the man's home after an evening of socialising; she punched him and verbally identified him as a rapist
- The defence contests the woman's credibility, citing previous false allegations she made, and disputes key elements including whether cocaine was consumed and the nature of prior interactions
- Police attended the property around 3am after the woman's mother called despite the woman's initial reluctance; a 35-minute body-worn camera recording exists
- The trial is ongoing in Victoria's county court; the man has pleaded not guilty