JARRATT ACCUSED OF RAPE

AUSTRALIAN actor and director John Jarratt, pictured, has appeared in court for the first time on a rape charge as his lawyer reiterated he will be defending the charge.

The Wolf Creek star, who fronted Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court yesterday, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, in September 1976.

“Nothing less than a not-guilty verdict will satisfy him,” lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court. “No discount could change his plea.”

Jarratt would be eligible for a 25 per cent sentence discount were he to plead guilty in the Local Court and a small discount for a guilty plea in the District Court before trial.

Mr Wrench acknowledged the court had to formally advise his client of sentencing discounts for early guilty pleas.

The alleged victim of Jarratt, now 66, came forward in December 2017. The actor was charged with one count of rape in August.

At a hearing earlier in October, Mr Wrench told the court he wanted to take the “express lane” to trial and that delays were affecting his client.

Jarratt is scheduled for a confidential case conference on November 26. He is then expected to formally enter a plea when his case returns to the Downing Centre Local Court for a committal hearing on November 29.