Two South Australian policemen accused of sexually assaulting a woman while they were in Melbourne to help the Black Saturday bushfire recovery have been committed to stand trial.
Damien Michael Jay Wilmott and Steven James Westcott denied the charges when asked their plea by a Melbourne magistrate on Wednesday.
It is alleged 30-year-old Wilmott digitally raped the woman, who was at the hotel after escaping domestic violence, for half an hour.
Westcott, 40, allegedly admitted to colleagues he entered the woman's room, and police allege he indecently assaulted the woman.
Magistrate Amanda Chambers said that while there was an apparent inconsistency in the details of a piece of evidence the woman gave, there was sufficient evidence for the men to face trial on all charges.
She said the reliability of the woman's evidence was a matter for a jury to decide.
Neither Wilmott nor Westcott made submissions through their lawyers as to why they should not be committed to stand trial.
Earlier, Acting Sergeant Pamela Kelly, who conducted the investigation for the Ethical Standards Department, confirmed there was no fingerprint or DNA evidence linking the men to the crime.
South Australian police Senior Constable Marcus Whitting told the court Wilmott, who was heavily intoxicated, had embraced another woman he was talking to before the alleged rape but was brushed off.
Sen Const Whitting said that as he walked to his room to go to bed, Wilmott was standing on his balcony in his underwear shouting.
The court also heard that just hours after the alleged sexual assault, the woman asked her youth worker how she could complain about "corrupt police officers".
"(The woman) told me that there had been an incident at the hotel involving three police officers, but she wouldn't disclose to me what the incident was," the youth worker said in a statement tendered in court.
Wilmott has pleaded not guilty to rape, indecent assault and unlawful imprisonment.
Westcott is charged with two counts of indecent assault.
When asked his plea by Ms Chambers, Westcott replied: "I am definitely not guilty, Your Honour".
Both men were bailed to appear in the Victorian County Court for a directions hearing on February 9 next year.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/984568/two-sa-cops-to-stand-trial-over-assault
Damien Michael Jay Wilmott and Steven James Westcott denied the charges when asked their plea by a Melbourne magistrate on Wednesday.
It is alleged 30-year-old Wilmott digitally raped the woman, who was at the hotel after escaping domestic violence, for half an hour.
Westcott, 40, allegedly admitted to colleagues he entered the woman's room, and police allege he indecently assaulted the woman.
Magistrate Amanda Chambers said that while there was an apparent inconsistency in the details of a piece of evidence the woman gave, there was sufficient evidence for the men to face trial on all charges.
She said the reliability of the woman's evidence was a matter for a jury to decide.
Neither Wilmott nor Westcott made submissions through their lawyers as to why they should not be committed to stand trial.
Earlier, Acting Sergeant Pamela Kelly, who conducted the investigation for the Ethical Standards Department, confirmed there was no fingerprint or DNA evidence linking the men to the crime.
South Australian police Senior Constable Marcus Whitting told the court Wilmott, who was heavily intoxicated, had embraced another woman he was talking to before the alleged rape but was brushed off.
Sen Const Whitting said that as he walked to his room to go to bed, Wilmott was standing on his balcony in his underwear shouting.
The court also heard that just hours after the alleged sexual assault, the woman asked her youth worker how she could complain about "corrupt police officers".
"(The woman) told me that there had been an incident at the hotel involving three police officers, but she wouldn't disclose to me what the incident was," the youth worker said in a statement tendered in court.
Wilmott has pleaded not guilty to rape, indecent assault and unlawful imprisonment.
Westcott is charged with two counts of indecent assault.
When asked his plea by Ms Chambers, Westcott replied: "I am definitely not guilty, Your Honour".
Both men were bailed to appear in the Victorian County Court for a directions hearing on February 9 next year.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/984568/two-sa-cops-to-stand-trial-over-assault
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