The man faces two counts of rape over offences allegedly committed in 2021. It comes after new laws enacted allowing the identification of accused sex offenders before they are committed to stand trial.
A Watch and Act warning is in place for Mount Sheila in the Shire of Ashburton, WA. Keep up to date withThe alleged victim in a rape case involving a high-profile man west of Brisbane has told prosecutors she wants the man to be identified under new state laws.
His case has been mentioned in court since January, but under previous legislation, his identity was suppressed. It was also revealed in court the defendant had been seeing a psychologist, who provided a letter mentioning suicidal ideation that formed part of his suppression order application.The man's lawyer, Rowan King, successfully obtained the Supreme Court injunction on Friday, as an interim measure to keep the man's identity suppressed until the matter could be fully heard in Toowoomba.
The court also heard that the complainant in the case had expressed her view that man's identity should be published and for him to be identified. "There is nothing … which indicates how he [the psychologist] has arrived at that diagnosis," Ms Phillipson said.Ms Phillipson expressed frustration that the defence had not filed its application earlier, and that parties had not received relevant material until just before the court hearing at 2pm.