Drugs factor in Coast gang rape

Fantasy use before alleged attack

FOUR men high on the drugs ice and liquid fantasy took turns raping a woman inside a Runaway Bay residence and held her mouth to muffle the screams, a court was told.

Prosecutors allege one of the men, the alleged ringleader of the attack, rifled through the woman’s bag and photographed her driver's licence before he and his accomplices took off.

The 34-year-old Brisbane man faced Southport Magistrates Court over videolink from Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre on Tuesday.

He was formally charged with five counts of rape, and one count of sexual assault on October 1 last year, alongside lesser charges including possessing a knife in public.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim. The man was accused of taking part in a “gang rape” while on parole, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions legal officer Kimberly Thomas told the court.

Opposing bail, she said the man and his three associates had been using drugs with the victim before she fell asleep in an open area of the home and woke to the Brisbane man touching her genitalia.

Hitting the man’s hand away, the woman told him to “f — k off” before he returned with the three other men and they “took turns raping” the woman.

“The defendant, it is alleged, was the first to rape the victim … while he was raping her, a male associate held his hand over the victim’s mouth to prevent her from screaming,” Ms Thomas said.

It was also alleged the Brisbane man finished on the woman’s face and then “held her down” while “the other males were raping” her.

Ms Thomas told the court the Brisbane man “took a photo before leaving the address of the (victim’s) licence identification”.

Soon after, the woman underwent a forensic exam and was photographed at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Ms Thomas said the accused had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery. Defence lawyer Demi Quadrio said DNA evidence did not support the victim’s version of events.

Ms Quadrio told the court the three co-accused men were already out on bail and her client should be freed with “onerous” conditions to take up a steady job.

She said her client had detoxed from drug use during about eight months spent behind bars and he may have to wait nine to 12 months for a trial listing.

Nevertheless, Mr Costanzo decided the accused presented a “totally unacceptable risk of reoffending” and refused bail.

The man appeared somewhat distressed, staring down and shaking his head.

No pleas were entered and the accused was committed to trial in Southport District Court at a date to be fixed.

He was due to return to the Magistrates Court on September 24.