R v Hill [2019] NSWDC 513

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Hill [2019] NSWDC 513 Hearing dates: 5/9/19 and 19/9/19 Date of orders: 19 September 2019 Decision date: 19 September 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Bourke SC DCJ Decision: I admit the evidence sought to be relied on by the Crown referred to in the application. I order a judge alone trial. Catchwords: Criminal – tendency – judge alone – kidnapping – aggravated sexual assault Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: Elomar & Ors v R [2014] NSWCCA 303 Jiang v R [2010] NSWCCA 277 O'Leary v The King (1946) 73 CLR 566 R v Adam [1999] 47 NSWLR 267 R v Player [2000] NSWCCA 123 The Queen v Bauer [2018] HCA 40 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: DPP (Prosecution) Brett David Hill (Accused) Representation: Counsel: Mr L Carr SC for DPP Mr A Norrie for Accused File Number(s): 18/186689 Publication restriction: Non-publication order in relation to the identity of the complainant.

Judgment 1. The Accused faces trial on an indictment currently containing 10 counts. Counts 1 to 9 relate to events which occurred on 12 June 2018. Shortly stated, the Crown case is that the Accused abducted the 11-year-old Complainant, and committed various sexual offences upon her, at three different locations, over a period of several hours that day. 2. Count 10, to which the Accused has pleaded guilty, is that on 16 June 2018, he had in his possession "child abuse material". The Accused has also entered a plea of guilty to count 4, being an offence of aggravated sexual intercourse, namely an act of forced fellatio. 3. In addition, the Accused has entered pleas of guilty in the Local Court to 4 other offences, which also occurred on the date of the abduction. Those offences are as follows: – 1. aggravated kidnapping (Crimes Act 1900 s 86 (2)) - formerly sequence 1; 2. aggravated sexual assault (Crimes Act 1900 s 61J (1)) – an act of forced fellatio - formerly sequence 2; 3. aggravated sexual assault – an act of digital / vaginal penetration - formerly sequence 6; 4. aggravated sexual assault – an act of digital / anal penetration - formerly sequence 7. 1. Put shortly, the pleas of guilty already entered by the Accused confirm his agreement with the following matters. That, on 12 June 2018, he kidnapped the Complainant as she was walking through Hudson Park in Newcastle, forced her to perform fellatio on him, then drove her to an unknown "forest" location, where he again forced her to perform fellatio, and then used a finger or fingers to penetrate her vagina and anus. These matters are all admitted by him. 2. The remaining allegations, which will be the subject of a trial, all relate to other forms of sexual indecency or sexual assault that are alleged to have been committed by the Accused in the course of his detention of the Complainant on 12 June 2018.