Arabic version: أسقط المدّعون أربع تهم ضد آلان جونز
Prosecutors have withdrawn four indecent assault charges against veteran broadcaster Alan Jones, reducing the number of complainants in the case from eight to six and leaving him to defend 22 charges in total.
According to ABC News, the changes came during pre-trial hearings at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, where the 85-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges and denies all wrongdoing. Several weeks of pre-trial hearings are under way ahead of a months-long hearing due to begin in early August.
Three of the withdrawn counts related to a complainant identified in court documents as “Complainant D”. The allegations, said to date from 2008, included that Mr Jones stroked the complainant’s thigh, patted his bottom and touched his penis, all on the outside of clothing, at a Kiama restaurant. The fourth withdrawn charge concerned “Complainant G” and an allegation from more than a decade ago that Mr Jones rubbed the complainant’s leg up towards his crotch during a performance at the Sydney Opera House. Judge Glenn Walsh formally dismissed those charges and both Complainant D and Complainant G are no longer part of the case.
The court was told by defence counsel Gabrielle Bashir SC that the Director of Public Prosecutions had determined there be no further proceedings in relation to the fourth and fifth complainants. Earlier changes in the proceedings have included a June dismissal of one count that removed another complainant from the case, and a September replacement of 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault with lesser offences that reduced the number of complainants by two and kept the matter in the Local Court.
Why this matters: the withdrawals and prior adjustments have narrowed the scope of the case and determined that the matter will proceed in the Local Court before a magistrate rather than in the District Court before a jury. What happens next: a months-long hearing is due to begin in early August at the Downing Centre Local Court, where Mr Jones will defend the remaining 22 charges.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | New South Wales | General | Social/إجتماعية
