Man found guilty of sodomy

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 9

Man found guilty of sodomy

After deliberating for more than five hours, a jury in the High Court last evening found a man, whose name was suppressed, guilty on a charge of sodomy on a boy, aged 16. Mr Justice Roper remanded him in custody to June 7 for sentence.

The accused pleaded not guilty to alternative charges of sodomy and indecent assault. The jury found him guilty of the more serious charge. Mr G. K. Panckhurst appeared for the Crown and Mr D. C. Fitzgibbon for the accused.

The trial began on Monday. Evidence was given that a high school boy was working L>.' a hotel kitchen during

the Christmas holidays and attended the staff Christmas party which began about 11 p.m. on December 10. After drinking several glasses of wine he became intoxicated and when attempting to ride his bike home fell off in the carpark. The accused told him that he could not go home in that condition and took him to his room.

About 3 am. the boy woke up naked in a double bed but had no recollection of how he got there. The accused was sodomising him. Soon after he “flaked out” again. The only witness called by the defence, Dr Robert John Blackmore, said that the accused first consulted him early in 1978.

concluded that he was suffering from Peyronie’s disease. That diagnosis was later confirmed by a specialist, Dr Utley. The condition would make it extremely difficult and painful for the sufferer to commit sodomy, Dr Blackmore said.

In his address to the jury, Mr Fitzgibbon said that the Crown had failed to prove its case on the sodomy charge to the required standard. The prosecution’s case was full of discrepancies and depended mainly on the evidence of a schoolboy who was “rotten drunk.” His testimony was completely unsatisfactory and could not be relied upon because of his condition at the time.

Under cross-examination, the boy had admitted that there were large gaps in his memory and that his recollection of events was hazy. Because the Crown had failed to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt, the accused should be acquitted, Mr Fitzgibbon said.

When the boy arrived home and his angry mother tackled him for being out all night, it was easy to make an allegation of sodomy, an allegation hard to refute. Right from the outset the accused had denied that the boy had spent the night with him. The only possible verdict was one of not guilty on both counts, Mr Fitzgibbon said. » Earlier report,