R v Guider

The appeal was brought by the respondent, Guider, against a conviction in the Local Court of New South Wales for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault in relation to an incident involving the complainant, a woman with whom he was in a domestic relationship. The appeal was heard by the District Court of New South Wales, which heard the matter in the appellate jurisdiction. The central issue in the appeal was whether the conviction should be quashed on the basis that it was unsafe and unsatisfactory. In particular, this related to the absence of objective evidence to support the complainant's evidence about the events of the night in question, which Guider said did not correspond to the photographs taken of the complainant the following morning. Another issue was whether the trial judge had adequately applied the Mahmood direction, which requires a trial judge to give direction to a jury in relation to the assessment of the credibility of complainants in sexual assault cases. The court held that the conviction should not be quashed. The trial judge had correctly applied the Mahmood direction and, having considered the evidence as a whole, was entitled to prefer the evidence of the complainant. The absence of objective evidence was not determinative, as the complainant's evidence was otherwise corroborated and consistent with other evidence given at the trial. The appeal was dismissed and the conviction upheld.

The court held that the trial judge had properly directed the jury in relation to the complainant's evidence, taking into account the absence of objective evidence and the fact that the photographs taken of the complainant had not been taken until the following morning. The trial judge had also appropriately drawn the jury's attention to the need to assess the complainant's credibility, and had not erred in failing to direct the jury to consider the complainant's good character. The court held that the trial judge had not erred in failing to give a Mahmood direction in relation to the non-sexual assault charge, as the direction was not applicable to that charge. The court held that the conviction was safe and satisfactory, and dismissed the appeal. The conviction was upheld.