Mr GR

Mr GR was convicted in June 2015 of rape and false imprisonment and was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment (15 years’ imprisonment plus five years extended license). 

Mr GR attempted to appeal his convictions, but this was rejected by the Full Court in November 2018. 

The CCRC received an application in 2021, and in September 2023 a provisional decision was made not to refer the case. However, Mr GR’s representatives sent further submissions for the CCRC to consider.

Following consideration of those arguments, the CCRC decided that there was a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would quash Mr GR’s convictions. 

At trial Mr GR was cross-examined on an apparent inconsistency between his evidence and the account he gave to the police in interview. As part of its investigation, the CCRC obtained the original recording of Mr GR’s police interview and instructed forensic speech and acoustics experts to review it.

This revealed a significant error in the transcript which the CCRC concluded potentially impacted the safety of Mr GR’s convictions. 

Mr GR’s application also raised a newly discovered recording on his mobile phone, which the CCRC considered ran counter to the prosecution’s case at trial. 

The CCRC referred the conviction in January 2025.