Teen free of rape charge

A TEENAGER accused of raping a woman in a Kirwan alleyway has been acquitted by a Townsville judge.

Judge John Coker has handed down a not guilty verdict following a two- day judgeonly trial in April.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been accused of taking a woman, 43, in an alleyway off Kittyhawk Ave on September 10, 2016, and raping her after she went walking in the early hours of the morning.

He faced trial charged with two counts of rape and one count of attempted rape.

But Judge Coker was not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt, saying he had concerns with the woman’s evidence and her version of events, after she gave evidence that she had been drinking and heavily medicated on the night and had been self- harming.

“It may be that it is correct, but there is certainly a real possibility that the actions of the complainant on that day were influenced by alcohol and/ or prescription drug use, as well as by issues with regard to her mental health and mood generally, as a result of other factors that had played upon her,” he said.

During the trial the woman gave evidence she had drunk alcohol and taken medication on the night of September 9 and had argued with her husband and son before deciding to go for a walk.

The woman told the court she would walk at night because it was too hot during the day and this night she took her cigarettes and a premixed can of Smirnoff Vodka with her.

She told the court the teenager approached her and asked for a cigarette and some of her drink and that after giving them to him, she was raped by the defendant and he tried to force her to give him oral sex.

But the now 18- year- old defendant gave evidence that he asked the woman for sex and that she had consented.

“He said, and it was telling, that it was the case that she had responded to his inquiry with words to the effect: ‘ Yes, I’ll have sex with you. I don’t give a f--- where we have sex’,” Judge Coker said.

“The impression he gave, was that she was a willing, though perhaps unresponsive participant in the sexual activity.”

Judge Coker described the woman’s evidence as “disjointed” and noted she did not recall how she found herself in the alleyway, but suggested she was pushed.

“Many of the matters to which I have already referred, give rise to concerns that on that day, and at that time, she was neither settled, stable or clear thinking,” he said.

“She had self- harmed, and as was submitted on the part of the defendant, her lack of any care as to what might or might not have occurred between she and the defendant, was just another attempt to harm herself.”