Re An Application Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1983 and Ac [1994] ACTSC 54 (9 June 1994)

SUPREME COURT OF THE ACT

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION UNDER THE CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION ACT
1983 AND AC
No. CIC98 OF 1992
Number of pages - 3

COURT

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
MASTER A HOGAN

HEARING

CANBERRA, 2 June 1994
9:6:1994

Counsel for the Applicant: Mr T Chadwick
Instructing Solicitors: Snedden Hall and Gallop

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr K Holmes

Instructing Solicitors: ACT Government Solicitor

ORDER

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

An interim award of compensation be awarded to the applicant in the
sum of $10,000.00.

DECISION

MASTER A HOGAN This is an application for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1983.

2. I make an order prohibiting the publication of any particulars likely to lead to the identification of the applicant or of the offender.

3. On 1 September 1992 an indictment was presented in this Court charging three offences by SK on the applicant. Two were of engaging in sexual intercourse with her without her consent, the third was of committing an act of indecency upon her without her consent.

4. The accused pleaded not guilty to the first two counts, but guilty to the third. The prosecutor accepted that plea of guilty in full discharge of the indictment. The Chief Justice released the offender on a bond to be of good behaviour for 2 years, further conditioned on his paying $500.00 compensation for the applicant and on his not approaching or contacting the applicant.

5. The applicant met the offender early in August of 1991, in the company of mutual friends. Although she was not anxious to start a relationship with him, she consented to sexual intercourse with him on two occasions at the end of August and the beginning of September.

6. On Wednesday 4 September she was offered a job in Brisbane, which she accepted. She rang SK to tell him. He tried to persuade her not to go.

7. The following Sunday he met her in the evening and suggested that they have a drink to celebrate her new job. They bought some drink, and drove back to the applicant's home, where she made dinner. There was further argument between them as he tried to persuade her not to leave Canberra.

8. After dinner she showered. When she came out of the shower he frightened her with a razor blade, as if he was going to cut himself, and then with a kitchen knife which he pointed at her. He later apologised to her.

9. She went to bed, leaving him on the lounge, finishing a bottle of drink. She was wearing a tracksuit and pants when she went to bed.

10. She awoke during the night to find that he had removed her tracksuit and pants and was having sexual intercourse with her. She tried to pretend to be asleep and roll over, but he was pressing on her shoulder. She was frightened, especially because of the previous episode with the knife.

11. He finished that act of intercourse, and then tried to waken and excite her. She began to cry. He struggled with her, saying, "You want to make love to me, don't you. Tell me you want to make love to me." She was still frightened, and said, "Yes." He then had intercourse with her again.

12. She eventually got out of bed and dressed. It was very early morning. He asked her whether she wanted him to leave. She said, "Yes". He started walking towards the back door. She went back to bed, crying and upset. When she woke she found he had come back and slept on the loungeroom floor. She later went into town with him.

13. Later she told a friend what had happened, and then informed the police.

14. She informed her mother about four days later, and on her advice moved to her employment in Brisbane.

15. The applicant's parents had separated, and her mother remarried, when she was about seven years old. She has continued to visit her father and stay with him regularly.

16. Her mother's evidence is that when she saw the applicant four days after the assault she was distraught, crying, depressed and unable to work. She thought the move to Brisbane would help her to recover. Phone calls they received from Brisbane did not reassure her. She suggested that the applicant return to Canberra. When she did so, she was unable to persuade her to see a doctor, although she was obviously still suffering.

17. Her father also deposed to the change that he noticed in her when she spent four weeks with him and his wife at Christmas 1991. She did not tell him the reason, however, until quite some time later.

18. The applicant now lives in Queensland, where she works helping to care for children.

19. She has spent some time as a Nanny in Paris, but was unable to enjoy the experience free of her anxieties.

20. She felt that she would add to her sufferings by attending the hearing of the application. There is, however, no medical evidence tendered on this application. I am reluctant to finally determine the matter without it. I understand that she intends to consult a doctor in Queensland.

21. I therefore make an interim determination of $10,000.00, and will consider the application further when and if medical evidence is available.

22. I make an interim award of compensation to the applicant of $10,000.00.