Arabic version: محكمة تستمع إلى مزاعم ضد ضابط شرطة سابق في نيو ساوث ويلز

According to ABC News, former NSW Police officer David Robert Blackbourne is on trial over allegations that he raped a 17-year-old girl at the police station where he worked in a NSW-Victoria border town in October 1998.

Blackbourne, 56, was arrested in 2023 and has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, and one count of holder of public office misconduct him or himself. His trial began this week at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.

The complainant told the court Blackbourne locked her in a cell months before the alleged assaults. She said she and a friend had been taken to the station in a police vehicle late at night and that, after being offered an alcoholic drink, she agreed to look inside a cell. She said Blackbourne locked the door and left her there for about 10 minutes, leaving her panicked in the cold, dark and damp cell.

About five weeks later, she said, Blackbourne picked her up with a friend and drove into bushland. She told the court he handcuffed her in a police vehicle and kissed her without permission.

The complainant said that when she attended the police station in October 1998 to collect a police hat for a year 12 muck-up day, Blackbourne told her she was not leaving. She alleged he kissed her, raped her behind the counter, then took her to another room and sexually assaulted her again. The trial, presided over by Judge Huw Baker SC, is continuing, with the complainant expected to give further evidence before cross-examination.