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A defence lawyer for the manager of an outback WA pub accused of sexual assault and rape has claimed the women making complaints against him were disgruntled because they were being ‘performance managed’, and had failed to report his behaviour immediately after it happened.
The trial is being heard in Broome.Credit: Hannah Murphy
Stewart Patrick Burchell is on trial in the WA District Court, sitting in the tourist town of Broome, charged with 15 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape.
Six women have made complaints between 2017 and 2023 about his conduct as the manager of the Roebuck Bay Hotel, including a skimpy, a manager, two bar staff and two security guards.
Defence lawyer Alexander Mossop completed his cross-examination of two complainants on Friday after delays earlier in the trial.
One woman first gave evidence on Tuesday this week, with Mossop only able to complete his cross-examination on Friday morning.
Defence lawyer Alexander Mossop and co-counsel.Credit: Hannah Murphy
The woman was a manager at the hotel when she said Burchell trapped her in staff accommodation and asked her to perform a number of sexual acts.
Mossop questioned her about her motive for speaking to police about the incident, and accused her of making her complaint just weeks apart from another complainant to “strengthen their case”.
She denied the allegation.
He also said she was disgruntled after her position at the hotel changed, and she was being “performance managed” by Burchell for underperforming – a claim she also denied.
Mossop said it was difficult to understand why she did not call out for help to nearby staff members who were also staying at the accommodation when she said the incident occurred, and said her testimony has been inconsistent with the statement she gave to police.
“Everyone handles things differently, and that’s how I handled it,” she said.
Mossop also said the incident she alleged did not happen.
She disagreed.
“It’s burned into my brain … when someone you respect says that, you don’t forget it,” she said.
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A second woman who worked as a security guard and gave evidence on Thursday was also cross-examined on Friday afternoon, and agreed with Mossop’s characterisation her relationship with Burchell was “relaxed” throughout her employment.
She said certain behaviour like tapping each other on the bum and hugging one another had become normalised, and Mossop pointed to the woman calling Burchell “hun” in one of their messages as a sign of their familiarity.
However, she disagreed and said it was normal practice to call everyone pet names and hug them hello.
She also disagreed with Mossop that she was being “deliberately vague” about when certain incidents happened, and said she was unable to provide specific dates for incidents where he grabbed her breasts and touched her buttocks as his behaviour had become so “normalised”.
The woman became upset when Mossop replayed footage to the court of an incident when the woman was bending down at the pub to unlatch a fire door, with Burchell allegedly pushing her head toward his groin and making a lewd comment.
The front verandah of the Roebuck Hotel where the woman worked.Credit: Hannah Murphy
He asked her why she didn’t seem upset in the footage.
“When in a male-oriented business you don’t carry on like a pork chop. I just played it off like I did all the other times,” she said.
On Thursday, a security guard contractor who employed two of the complainants to work at the pub also gave evidence he was aware one of his staff had made a complaint against Burchell.
He said the two bantered in their relationship, and he often observed them “shoulder bumping” and “bum tapping” each other, but thought their relationship was normal.
He said he never witnessed anything sexual between the two, but stood her down from her job at the hotel once she made her complaint.
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