Australia, Sept. 8 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 8:

1. WRIGHT J: I agree with Rigg J.

2. WEINSTEIN J: I agree with Rigg J.

3. RIGG J: On 4 July 2023 the applicant Tarun Kumar was convicted after a trial by jury, presided over by his Honour M L Williams SC DCJ, of two counts of sexually touching the complainant without her consent, and one count of having sexual intercourse with her without her consent, all in circumstances of aggravation; namely, that she was under his authority. The offences were alleged to have occurred on 19 March 2021. He was acquitted by the jury of one count of sexual touching the same complainant without her consent, and two counts of sexual intercourse without her consent, all again in the same circumstance of aggravation, alleged to have been committed two days earlier.

4. On 22 September 2023 the applicant was sentenced by his Honour to an aggregate sentence of three years and six months imprisonment commencing 4 July 2023 and expiring 3 January 2027, with a non-parole period of 22 months expiring 4 May 2025.

5. The applicant seeks leave to appeal against his convictions on grounds of mixed law and fact. He does not seek leave to appeal against his sentence. The grounds of appeal relied upon, as amended, are as follows:

"Ground one: A miscarriage of justice arose:

(i) from the Crown prosecutor's misstatement of the bases upon which "knowledge" of an absence of consent could be established at law for each offence and/or;

(ii) the trial judge's directions to the jury in relation to "knowledge" by including consideration of what the applicant "thought", or "believed", in the particular circumstances of this case.

Ground two: The jury's verdict of guilty on Counts 4-6 were not consistent with its verdicts of not guilty on Counts 1-3 and therefore the guilty verdicts are not safe."

6. The applicant seeks a new trial in the event that ground 1 succeeds, and the entry of verdicts of acquittal upon success on ground 2.

The proceedings in the District Court

Outline of relevant evidence

7. The evidence will be summarised only to the extent necessary to consider the grounds of appeal. In 2021 the applicant operated a business which cleaned newly built houses. He was married with two very young children. The complainant started working for him in February 2021 as a cleaner. She worked three or four days a week. Sometimes she cleaned just with the applicant, and on other occasions there was a third cleaner present. The complainant did not drive, so the applicant drove her between her home and the work sites. She had been introduced to the applicant through a relative of her husband, who babysat the applicant's wife when she was a child.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1987dfba0c96e011fb4539a3)

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