R v Bunt [2019] NSWSC 915

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Bunt [2019] NSWSC 915 Hearing dates: 16 July 2019 Date of orders: 17 July 2019 Decision date: 17 July 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Harrison J Decision: Bail granted Catchwords: BAIL – where applicant charged with indecent assault and sexual assault – where applicant originally granted bail following arrest but placed in custody after breach of bail condition – whether applicant constitutes a bail concern – whether Crown's bail concerns can be mitigated by appropriate conditions Legislation Cited: Bail Act 2013 (NSW), s 17(2) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Murray Wayne Bunt (Applicant) Crown (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Legal Aid Commission of NSW (Applicant) Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) File Number(s): 2019/155359 Publication restriction: Nil

Judgment 1. HIS HONOUR: Murray Wayne Bunt applies for bail. He is charged with a series of offences alleged to have been committed against a single victim on 8 January 2018. Mr Bunt was originally granted bail following his arrest on 12 January 2018. However, he failed to appear on three occasions when his matters were mentioned before the Local Court. He was also found to have been absent from the address at which he was by his bail conditions required to reside. A warrant for his arrest issued and was executed on 9 May 2019. Mr Bunt has been in custody since then. 2. The Crown alleges that Mr Bunt indecently assaulted a woman with whom he had had an association and that he had sexual intercourse with her on three occasions without her consent. All matters are listed for arraignment at the Gosford District Court on 2 August 2019. 3. The application is opposed. The Crown submits that all of the matters listed in s 17(2) of the Bail Act 2013 are present in this matter and that the nominated bail concerns are not capable of being ameliorated by any available or appropriate conditions. 4. The Crown made the following submissions. 5. In relation to the seriousness of the offence, Mr Bunt allegedly broke into the victim's premises, where he then sexually assaulted her a number of times. The victim was suffering from shingles at the time, with a number of lesions over her body. This caused her immense pain and suffering in addition to the sexual assaults. 6. Mr Bunt was later arrested at his home. During the course of the interview, Mr Bunt gave a series of false accounts of his whereabouts on 8 January 2018. For example, Mr Bunt claimed that he had not had any contact with the victim since December 2017. When confronted with CCTV of him and the victim, he changed his version of events. He agreed that on 8 January 2018, he attended the victim's residence unannounced and uninvited. Further, he stated they had consensual sexual intercourse, and denied versions put forward by the victim. He denied the victim biting his penis or scratching his scrotum. However, by Mr Bunt's own admission, he attended the victim's residence uninvited and entered her house without consent. 7. Mr Bunt's charges have been mentioned in the Local Court on nine separate occasions. He failed to appear on three occasions, but no warrants were issued for his arrest until mid-2018. Police later received information that Mr Bunt had breached his residential bail conditions. He had provided addresses of XX Coal Point Road, Coal Point, XX York Street, Teralba and XX Robey Street, Coal Point. When police checked these addresses for Mr Bunt, they were advised that he had not resided at those locations for long periods of time. 8. On 6 March 2018, Tuggerah Lakes Police opposed bail having regard to Mr Bunt's failure to abide by residential conditions for XX Coal Point Road, Coal Point. Mr Bunt was granted bail notwithstanding this opposition. 9. As the matter continues to progress towards a possible criminal trial, police have made extra attempts to ensure that Mr Bunt appears at court. On 14 September 2018, police conducted enquiries at XX York Street, Teralba and were advised by the occupier of those premises that he had had no dealings with Mr Bunt since October 2017. 10. On 19 September 2018, police conducted enquiries at XX Robey Street, Coal Point. The occupiers of those premises indicated that they had resided at the address for the past 28 years, and that they neither knew nor had heard of Mr Bunt. Mail for Mr Bunt had occasionally been sent to their address but had been returned to the post office. 11. On 24 January 2019, police received information that Mr Bunt was residing at XX Davis Street, Wallsend. That information turned out to be incorrect. 12. At around 3.10pm on 9 May 2019, police spoke with Mr Bunt on a train near Metford for not having a valid ticket or card. Checks revealed that Mr Bunt was the subject of an outstanding warrant issued on 2 October 2018 for failing to appear. Mr Bunt told the police that he had forgotten the date and that "things got out of hand and I didn't know what to do." He said that he was going to hand himself in and that he "was just scared". Mr Bunt was immediately arrested. 13. Mr Bunt has a poor record of complying with bail conditions. The Crown submitted that his behaviour shows a clear propensity to commit serious offences, with a corresponding disregard for any conditions placed upon him whilst at liberty in the community. Although Mr Bunt is currently in custody, police are concerned if he is granted bail that, due to his lack of community ties, he may abscond. 14. In relation to safety of the community, the Crown submitted that should Mr Bunt be granted conditional bail he would be a risk to the public.