R v Bunt

[2019] NSWSC 915

Supreme Court

New South Wales

• Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation:	R v Bunt [2019] NSWSC 915
Hearing dates:	16 July 2019
Date of orders:	17 July 2019
Decision date:	17 July 2019
Jurisdiction:	Common Law
Before:	Harrison J
Decision:	Bail granted
Catchwords:	BAIL – where applicant charged with indecent assault and sexual assault – where applicant originally granted bail following arrest but placed in custody after breach of bail condition – whether applicant constitutes a bail concern – whether Crown’s bail concerns can be mitigated by appropriate conditions
Legislation Cited:	Bail Act 2013 (NSW), s 17(2)
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	Murray Wayne Bunt (Applicant) Crown (Respondent)
Representation:	Solicitors: Legal Aid Commission of NSW (Applicant) Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent)
File Number(s):	2019/155359
Publication restriction:	Nil

Judgment

1. HIS HONOUR: Murray Wayne Bunt applies for bail. He is charged with a series of offences alleged to have been committed against a single victim on 8 January 2018. Mr Bunt was originally granted bail following his arrest on 12 January 2018. However, he failed to appear on three occasions when his matters were mentioned before the Local Court. He was also found to have been absent from the address at which he was by his bail conditions required to reside. A warrant for his arrest issued and was executed on 9 May 2019. Mr Bunt has been in custody since then.

2. The Crown alleges that Mr Bunt indecently assaulted a woman with whom he had had an association and that he had sexual intercourse with her on three occasions without her consent. All matters are listed for arraignment at the Gosford District Court on 2 August 2019.

3. The application is opposed. The Crown submits that all of the matters listed in s 17(2) of the Bail Act 2013 are present in this matter and that the nominated bail concerns are not capable of being ameliorated by any available or appropriate conditions.

4. The Crown made the following submissions.

5. In relation to the seriousness of the offence, Mr Bunt allegedly broke into the victim’s premises, where he then sexually assaulted her a number of times. The victim was suffering from shingles at the time, with a number of lesions over her body. This caused her immense pain and suffering in addition to the sexual assaults.

6. Mr Bunt was later arrested at his home. During the course of the interview, Mr Bunt gave a series of false accounts of his whereabouts on 8 January 2018. For example, Mr Bunt claimed that he had not had any contact with the victim since December 2017. When confronted with CCTV of him and the victim, he changed his version of events. He agreed that on 8 January 2018, he attended the victim’s residence unannounced and uninvited. Further, he stated they had consensual sexual intercourse, and denied versions put forward by the victim. He denied the victim biting his penis or scratching his scrotum. However, by Mr Bunt’s own admission, he attended the victim’s residence uninvited and entered her house without consent.

7. Mr Bunt’s charges have been mentioned in the Local Court on nine separate occasions. He failed to appear on three occasions, but no warrants were issued for his arrest until mid-2018. Police later received information that Mr Bunt had breached his residential bail conditions. He had provided addresses of XX Coal Point Road, Coal Point, XX York Street, Teralba and XX Robey Street, Coal Point. When police checked these addresses for Mr Bunt, they were advised that he had not resided at those locations for long periods of time.

8. On 6 March 2018, Tuggerah Lakes Police opposed bail having regard to Mr Bunt’s failure to abide by residential conditions for XX Coal Point Road, Coal Point. Mr Bunt was granted bail notwithstanding this opposition.

9. As the matter continues to progress towards a possible criminal trial, police have made extra attempts to ensure that Mr Bunt appears at court. On 14 September 2018, police conducted enquiries at XX York Street, Teralba and were advised by the occupier of those premises that he had had no dealings with Mr Bunt since October 2017.

10. On 19 September 2018, police conducted enquiries at XX Robey Street, Coal Point. The occupiers of those premises indicated that they had resided at the address for the past 28 years, and that they neither knew nor had heard of Mr Bunt. Mail for Mr Bunt had occasionally been sent to their address but had been returned to the post office.

11. On 24 January 2019, police received information that Mr Bunt was residing at XX Davis Street, Wallsend. That information turned out to be incorrect.

12. At around 3.10pm on 9 May 2019, police spoke with Mr Bunt on a train near Metford for not having a valid ticket or card. Checks revealed that Mr Bunt was the subject of an outstanding warrant issued on 2 October 2018 for failing to appear. Mr Bunt told the police that he had forgotten the date and that “things got out of hand and I didn’t know what to do.” He said that he was going to hand himself in and that he “was just scared”. Mr Bunt was immediately arrested.

13. Mr Bunt has a poor record of complying with bail conditions. The Crown submitted that his behaviour shows a clear propensity to commit serious offences, with a corresponding disregard for any conditions placed upon him whilst at liberty in the community. Although Mr Bunt is currently in custody, police are concerned if he is granted bail that, due to his lack of community ties, he may abscond.

14. In relation to safety of the community, the Crown submitted that should Mr Bunt be granted conditional bail he would be a risk to the public.

Consideration

15. There is no doubt that the allegations against Mr Bunt are serious. However, the only reason why he is currently in custody stems from his failure to comply either with the requirement that he attend court as and when required to do so or to reside in the location mandated by his bail conditions. I note that the Crown did not make a detention application following his release on bail, which on one view reliably informs the strength of the bail concerns identified by the Crown and the question of whether those concerns are as difficult to ameliorate by the imposition of appropriate conditions as has been suggested.

16. I accept that Mr Bunt did not appear to tell the truth to the police when interviewed concerning the relevant events. However, I also observe that there will be a factual contest concerning the issue of consent, having regard to what Mr Bunt would describe as the victim’s behaviour following the alleged assaults that he maintains is consistent with his innocence. In particular, the victim is seen accompanying Mr Bunt in the streets of a shopping district after the event in an apparently co-operative fashion. I hasten to indicate that the victim has offered a completely different account of her presence with Mr Bunt at this time, suggesting that she was at all times with him under sufferance.

17. Mr Bunt indicated during the hearing of this application that he failed to attend court when required because he was frightened of what was happening. He has also indicated that he proposes to attend court from now on as required, having experienced the unpleasant environment of gaol for the first time.

18. Contrary to the Crown’s helpful submissions, I consider that it is possible to craft conditions that will adequately meet the Crown’s concerns with respect to the safety of the victim and Mr Bunt’s reappearance at court when required. I do not consider that he is demonstrably at risk of endangering the public or interfering with witness. With the exception of the current allegations, he does not have a criminal history of violence and the pending charges would appear to be discrete incidents arising out of the failed nature of relationship with the victim.

Decision

19. I consider that bail should be granted to Mr Bunt, subject to the following conditions:

1. He is to be of good behaviour.

2. He is to reside at XX James Street, Windale.

3. He is to report to Belmont Police Station daily between the hours of 8am and 8pm.

4. He is to appear at Gosford District Court on 1 August 2019 and thereafter as required.

5. He is to comply with a curfew and is not to be absent from the address at which he is required to live between the hours of 9pm and 7am except if he is in the company of Kevin Turner.

6. He is not to have any contact in any way (including via a third party) with [the complainant].

7. He must not enter the town of Wyong for any purpose.

8. He is to travel from the correctional centre from which he is to be released on bail in the company of Kevin Turner who must be in attendance at the correctional centre before he is released.

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Amendments

25 February 2020 - Paragraph 19(6) anonymised

Decision last updated: 25 February 2020