Our client was charged with attempted rape, sexual assault, and recklessly cause injury relating to an incident that occurred in a hotel in the city. This client was a young person who had only recently arrived in Australia on a working visa.
What is alleged to have occurred?
The client had been out with friends at a nightclub in the city and then returned to the hotel where the client went to sleep in one of the bedrooms. A friend later returned to the same hotel room with some other friends they had met at the nightclub. One of these new friends then entered our client’s bedroom and an incident took place which led to the client being charged with attempted rape, sexual assault, and recklessly cause injury.
The client was interviewed by the police some months later, in which the client admitted to being in the hotel room and recalling the person enter the bedroom where they were sleeping, although the client denied the allegations explaining that they could not remember much due to excessive alcohol consumption.
Bail was granted. The client attended our office for legal advice about the charges and upcoming court dates. Sadly, a short time later, our client suffered serious injuries in a motor vehicle accident at work. The injuries the client suffered further impaired their memory of the alleged incident. Our lawyers then assisted with referrals to migration and personal injury lawyers so that the client could receive specialist advice.
The client instructed our lawyers to contest the charges on the basis that he could not remember the incident as alleged. The matter proceeded to contested committal where the witnesses were cross-examined and our lawyers made submissions to the Magistrate to discharge the attempt rape charge, which was refused, with all charges being committed to the County Court for trial.
It is unusual for charges to be discharged at contested committal because a Magistrate just needs to be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence against an accused person to stand trial. The difficulty in this matter is that the allegations relating to the sexual assault were closely linked with the allegations related to the sexual assault charge, and it is on this basis that the Magistrate refused to discharge the attempt rape charge. Although sexual assault and recklessly cause injury can be determined summarily in the Magistrates’ Court, this is not the case for attempt rape, which is a charge that must proceed to the County Court for trial.
What happened at Court?
At the plea hearing in the County Court, submissions were made on behalf of our client that emphasised his youth, prospects of rehabilitation, insight and remorse, and his acceptance of responsibility and early plea of guilty. Our lawyers submitted for a without conviction disposition and some kind of community-based sentence.
Our lawyers informed the court of our client’s good background, strong work history, and supportive family back in his home country. We told the court about our client’s future plans, including wanting to return home as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, in the lead up to the plea hearing, our client had been charged with some subsequent driving charges which had to be addressed on the plea. The Sentencing Judge indicated that these were of limited relevance to the sexual assault charge, although they did have some limited impact on submissions about prospects of rehabilitation because the driving charges revealed some ongoing drug use.
At the plea hearing, a victim impact statement was read aloud that discussed the impact of the incident on the victim. Our client provided a letter of apology to the victim in response to this, which was relied upon by the Sentencing Judge as evidence of his genuine remorse.
The prosecution made submissions asserting that our client should be convicted because of the seriousness of the offending and the impact on the victim, and also that a Community Corrections Order should be imposed.
What was the result of the attempted rape, sexual assault, and recklessly cause injury charges?
Ultimately, our client was convicted and sentenced to a Community Corrections Order for a period of 10 months with therapeutic conditions and 100 hours of community work. Although this means that he was not able to return to his home country immediately, it was a favourable outcome in the circumstances.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 18/11/2024
