A former prison guard who was found guilty of sexually abusing 10 inmates, including a pregnant woman, at a Sydney jail will remain behind bars after the state’s highest court rejected his appeal.
Wayne Gregory Astill was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of 34 charges, including aggravated sexual assault and indecent assault.
He was found guilty of 27 counts relating to non-consensual conduct, but admitted to seven counts of misconduct in office relating to inappropriate consensual sexual acts.
The jury found he sexually assaulted 10 female inmates, one of whom was pregnant at the time, while he was stationed at Dillwynia Correctional Centre in Sydney’s northwest.
Earlier this year, he took his case to the Court of Criminal Appeals to appeal his convictions and sentence.
Wayne Gregory Astill was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of 34 charges, including aggravated sexual assault and indecent assault.
One inmate said the abuse she suffered at the hands of Wayne Astill began shortly after her promotion to a senior position at Dillwyna (above), Australia’s largest women’s prison.
His attorney, Tomislav Bicanic, argued that the trial judge, District Court Judge Gina O’Rourke, had erred when she gave a jury instruction on “tendency” evidence.
During the trial, the Crown prosecutor argued that evidence showed Astill had a tendency to make sexually suggestive comments, put himself in a position where he was alone with women and engage in non-consensual sexual acts.
Mr Bicanic argued that the Crown had relied on evidence that “varied widely in terms of severity or gravity” and on conduct for which Astill was not charged.
He argued that Judge O’Rourke should have given the jury more instructions on how they should think about the bias evidence to avoid “errors of reasoning.”
However, during an appeal hearing in June, Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Nicholson said it was not necessary because the jury had been “correctly directed” by Judge O’Rourke, who had “made it very clear” that they should not find Astill guilty unless they found the victims’ testimony was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sex beast Wayne Astill forced an inmate onto a table and raped her, threatening her afterwards if she revealed his actions to anyone.
She argued that jurors were given clear instructions several times about the standard and burden of proof.
“The jury clearly understood those instructions,” the Crown prosecutor said at the time.
‘There can be no miscarriage of justice or practical disadvantage to the applicant in circumstances where the jury is considering the same body of evidence.’
Her appeal was heard by Chief Justice Anthony Bell and Justices Kristina Stern and Richard Button earlier this year.
On Monday, the Court of Criminal Appeal handed down a unanimous 3-0 decision refusing Astill permission to have his appeal against his conviction and sentence heard.
Astill will be eligible for parole in December 2037.
