O'Hearn (formerly DAO (No 4)) v R [2021] NSWCCA 103

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: O'Hearn (formerly DAO (No 4)) v R [2021] NSWCCA 103 Hearing dates: 26 April 2021 Decision date: 21 May 2021 Before: Hoeben CJ at CL at [1] N Adams J at [2] Hidden AJ at [3] Decision: (1) Application for extension of time granted. (2) Leave to appeal refused. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – application for leave to appeal against conviction – charges of sexual abuse of children – credibility of prosecution witness who had committed offences of the same kind – claim by witness that he had revealed the whole of his offending – witness subsequently convicted of further offences of the same kind – those convictions relied upon as fresh evidence – whether those convictions could be used as evidence of the witness's guilt of those additional offences Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 474D Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), s 5(1)(b) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 91, 106 Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008 (NSW) Cases Cited: Ainsworth v Burden [2005] NSWCA 174 DAO v R (No 2) [2014] NSWCCA 126 Hollington v Hewthorn & Co Ltd [1943] KB 587 MRW v R [2011] NSWCCA 260 R v Abou-Chabake [2004] NSWCCA 356; 149 A Crim R 417 R v Davidson (No 1) [2019] NSWSC 980 R v Heuston [2003] NSWCCA 172; 140 A Crim R 422 Category: Principal judgment Parties: David Anthony O'Hearn (Applicant) Regina (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: D Dalton SC, M Curry (Applicant) H Roberts (Respondent)