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 Alleged rape victim treated like Chinese takeaway: prosecutor 

Alleged rape victim treated like Chinese takeaway: prosecutor

07 Sep, 2010 12:43 AM
THREE men accused of raping a young Chinese woman treated her like a piece of takeaway, a court was told yesterday.

Crown prosecutor David Cordy, in his closing address to the jury, said the woman "was treated like a piece of Chinese takeaway" by the men who, when they had had their fill, threw her away.

Mr Cordy said the woman had only arrived in Australia from China three months before the alleged offences and asked the jury to put themselves in her shoes when considering their verdict.

He described the woman as a young person in a foreign country, trying to explain what had happened to her in a language not her own.

Brothers, Charles Anthony Smith, of Ballarat North, and Matthew Benjamin Smith, of Point Cook, both 21, and co-accused Bennet Crouch, 22, of Wendouree, have been charged with raping the 21-year-old in June last year.

All three have pleaded not guilty to charges in the trial in the County Court at Ballarat.

Mr Cordy told the jury not to decide the case on sympathy or prejudice, which included the fact none of the accused had prior criminal convictions.

The trio met the woman at Side by Side bar in Mair Street before going back to Charles Smith's home, where it is alleged the offences took place.

After having consensual sexual intercourse with Charles Smith, the woman has alleged Crouch entered the bedroom and the offending began, with both men involved. Shortly after Matthew Smith came into the bedroom and also allegedly raped and indecently assaulted the woman.

Mr Cordy said the question of consent "was very much a live issue in this case" and something the woman withdrew as soon as Crouch entered the bedroom.

"At this point the woman withdraws consent and never said or did anything to indicate consent from this point on," he said.

In his closing address barrister Phillip Priest QC, defence counsel for Charles Smith, told the court the woman was an accomplished liar who had woven lies into the fabric of the truth.

He said the woman's evidence included "a six-pack of lies" and asked the jury if they were prepared to convict "three fine young men" on her word alone.

The trial, before Judge Howard Mason, continues.

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An artist's impression of the three men accused of rape. Picture: Edward Coleridge
An artist's impression of the three men accused of rape. Picture: Edward Coleridge

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