Warning: Distressing details <\/p>\n
A heartbreaking phone call between a former NSW Police officer who is accused of raping a teenage girl at a police station and the alleged victim has been played to a jury.<\/p>\n
David Robert Blackbourne, 56, is standing trial in the Downing Centre District Court on allegations he sexually assaulted the teenage girl in a rural town on the NSW-Victoria border back in October 1998, while he was a serving police officer. <\/p>\n
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, and one count holder of public office misconduct himself.<\/p>\n
The prosecution alleges Mr Blackbourne and the teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had met on a few occasions, and she knew him only as \u201cDave\u201d. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, a tense phone call recorded some 20 years after the alleged incident between the woman and Mr Blackbourne was played to the court. <\/p>\n
In the recording the woman seemingly confronts the former officer about his memory of the alleged incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know exactly what I\u2019m talking about \u2026 please don\u2019t pretend,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened that morning has never left me \u2026 I need closure over this time in my life.\u201d <\/p>\n
The woman added she just wanted to have an open conversation about what happened, and that she \u201cneeded his memories\u201d, however, Mr Blackbourne said he had little memory of the time but remembered she was \u201ca lovely girl\u201d, and \u201cfull of energy\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope everything\u2019s okay \u2026 I don\u2019t know what else you want from me in relation to this,\u201d he said in the recording. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast century was a long time ago and we\u2019ve all been through a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he \u201cwanted to help\u201d, but added she needed \u201cprofessional help for things that have happened in her life\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cop \u2018locked up\u2019 teen before alleged assault<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the alleged victim took the stand, and told the court on one occasion in the months prior to the alleged assault, she was walking with her friend when Mr Blackbourne and another, unknown, police officer offered the pair a lift home, but said they had to first go back to a local police station.<\/p>\n
At the police station, the woman alleges the cops then offered the girls an alcoholic drink that they said had been \u201cconfiscated\u201d by police, before Mr Blackbourne allegedly locked her inside a prison cell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was asked if I wanted to go and see the cells where the prisoners were kept \u2026 I said yes, I was curious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big brick cell and it was very cold and dark and damp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went inside and that\u2019s when Dave locked me in the cell,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The woman said she was locked inside on her own for \u201clonger than she anticipated\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got quite panicked, like I couldn\u2019t get out it was cold and dark,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
A few months later, Mr Blackbourne allegedly picked up the teenager, who had recently turned 17, from a local pub in a marked police car and gave her a lift home, the Crown alleged. <\/p>\n
The woman claimed that \u201cDave\u201d had told her \u201cnot to worry\u201d if she had problems getting into pubs underage, and that he would \u201cmake sure\u201d she could get in. <\/p>\n
On another occasion, the woman and her friend again ran into \u201cDave\u201d when they were out walking at night. <\/p>\n
The woman alleges Mr Blackbourne pulled up in a NSW Police car, and she got into the front seat and her friend got into the back. <\/p>\n
She alleges Mr Blackbourne then put handcuffs on both her wrists, and kissed her, putting his tongue in her mouth without consent.<\/p>\n
In October 1998, the woman alleged she attended a local police station, where Mr Blackbourne gave her a police hat that she had organised for her friend to borrow to wear as a costume.<\/p>\n
After giving her the hat, he allegedly said: \u201cyou aren\u2019t leaving yet\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThings changed very quickly \u2026 he seemed angry \u2026 I became very scared \u2026 I thought I was in trouble for having the police hat,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The accused then allegedly kissed her, and put his tongue in her mouth without permission.<\/p>\n
He then allegedly pulled the woman\u2019s pants down and had sexual intercourse with her without consent, behind the counter at the police station. <\/p>\n
He then allegedly took her into a separate room and again sexually assaulted her, the woman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfterwards \u2026 he handed me some tissues and he told to clean myself up,\u201d the woman told the court while crying and staring at the accused. <\/p>\n
The woman said she walked home crying and stopped on a bridge. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was very upset and overwhelmed by what happened \u2026 and I was contemplating jumping off the bridge,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The woman says she did not tell anyone about the alleged assault until 2002 when she told her now husband while they were overseas in Europe. <\/p>\n
The alleged victim spoke to Victoria Police about the incident years later in 2016, before NSW Police took over the investigation in November 2021. <\/p>\n
In 2023, Mr Blackbourne was arrested and charged. <\/p>\n
In the defence\u2019s openings, barrister Matthew Johnston SC said they strongly dispute all allegations, and deny Mr Blackbourne ever picked the complainant up, handcuffed her or kissed her, or any sexual intercourse, either with or without consent. <\/p>\n
They do not dispute that Mr Blackbourne was an acting police officer at the time of the alleged incident, however, they strongly dispute the acts of sexual intercourse, or of misconduct. <\/p>\n
The barrister told the jury that the quality and reliability of the evidence may be questioned throughout the trial, given the incident occurred over two decades ago. <\/p>\n
Judge Huw Baker SC reminded the jury the onus of proof remains with the Crown to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt. <\/p>\n
The trial continues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warning: Distressing details A heartbreaking phone call between a former NSW Police officer who is accused of raping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[52168,41415,42709,52166,52195,52178,49208,49213,52162,52169,49226,52186,49231,52171,52190,49214,40993,38151,52164,52152,52177,52157,49206,41007,52192,52187,52155,52196,52182,52181,52170,4817,40351,8006,13345,52167,7344,49210,52198,52180,2304,22,21,49229,15099,40381,49224,41043,14134,49218,49240,1625,49249,49230,49864,49204,52189,52194,52160,52185,52191,49225,49263,52,49245,52172,49271,52158,52183,36526,49246,39252,1293,36518,49205,49236,49244,52163,1047,588,18032,8972,49258,7947,38756,52188,52173,49247,52165,52174,29115,5594,40460,51699,40466,40442,42022,41892,52175,52176,37269,52197,39856,39898,49266,52156,52161,37836,52153,49834,49259,37068,52184,49267,52159,49297,52154,49223,45773,36556,37141,37452,8962,52193,36985,41632,5716,52179,12205],"class_list":["post-55215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-pants","tag-41415","tag-42709","tag-a-big-brick-cell","tag-a-bridge","tag-a-costume-after","tag-a-few-months","tag-a-few-occasions","tag-a-former-nsw-police-officer","tag-a-heartbreaking-phone-call","tag-a-jury","tag-a-jury-david-robert-blackbourne","tag-a-lift-home","tag-a-local-police-station","tag-a-local-police-station-at","tag-a-local-pub","tag-a-long-time","tag-a-lot","tag-a-lovely-girl","tag-a-marked-police-car","tag-a-nsw-police-car","tag-a-nsw-police-officer","tag-a-police-hat","tag-a-police-station","tag-a-prison-cell","tag-a-rural-town","tag-a-separate-room","tag-a-serving-police-officer","tag-a-teenage-girl","tag-a-tense-phone-call","tag-a-tense-recorded-phone-call","tag-act","tag-afternoon","tag-allegations","tag-alleged-assault","tag-alleged-assaulton","tag-alleged-rape","tag-an-alcoholic-drink","tag-an-open-conversation","tag-another-occasion","tag-assault","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-both-her-wrists","tag-closure","tag-consent","tag-consent-in","tag-cop","tag-dave","tag-david-blackbourne","tag-distressing-details","tag-energy","tag-handcuffs","tag-her-friend","tag-her-life","tag-her-mouth","tag-her-own","tag-himself-the-prosecution","tag-his-alleged-victim","tag-his-memories","tag-his-memory","tag-his-tongue","tag-his-trial","tag-home","tag-indecency","tag-last-century","tag-legal-reasons","tag-little-memory","tag-more-than-two-decades","tag-morning","tag-mr-blackbourne","tag-my-life","tag-newswire-court","tag-night","tag-october-1998","tag-one-count-holder","tag-one-occasion","tag-permission-he","tag-police","tag-police-officer","tag-problems","tag-professional-help","tag-public-office-misconduct","tag-pubs","tag-relation","tag-rural-nsw-police-station","tag-sad-call","tag-sexual-intercourse","tag-some-20-years","tag-some-tissues","tag-teen","tag-teenage-girl","tag-the-accused","tag-the-alleged-assault","tag-the-alleged-incident","tag-the-alleged-victim","tag-the-back","tag-the-bridge","tag-the-cell","tag-the-cells","tag-the-cops","tag-the-counter","tag-the-court","tag-the-crown","tag-the-downing-centre-district-court","tag-the-former-officer","tag-the-front-seat","tag-the-girls","tag-the-hat","tag-the-months","tag-the-nsw-victoria-border","tag-the-pair","tag-the-police-hat","tag-the-police-station","tag-the-prisoners","tag-the-recording","tag-the-stand","tag-the-teenage-girl","tag-the-teenager","tag-the-time","tag-the-woman","tag-this-time","tag-trial","tag-trouble","tag-tuesday","tag-two-counts","tag-warning","tag-what-else","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}