In a significant development, two men who were previously convicted of gang raping three teenagers during a bucks party weekend are set to undergo a retrial, while a third individual has been acquitted following successful appeals against their convictions.
Maurice Hawell, 31, along with his younger brother Marius, 24, and Andrew David, also 31, were initially found guilty of the sexual assaults in 2024. This verdict came after a nearly four-week trial, where the jury concluded that the men had targeted their teenage victims during a bucks party weekend in February 2022. The group had rented an Airbnb in Newcastle for the celebration, which was held in anticipation of Maurice’s upcoming wedding.
The trio challenged their convictions, claiming that the trial judge had erred in her instructions to the jury, leading to what they deemed unreasonable verdicts. Their appeals were heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal, which today decided to overturn the convictions.
Following the court’s decision, Justice Belinda Rigg mandated that Maurice Hawell and Andrew David face a retrial in the NSW District Court. This ruling marks a pivotal point in the legal proceedings, as the court examines the circumstances surrounding the initial trial and its outcomes.
The appeal was upheld by the Court of Criminal Appeal today, with the panel of judges quashing the convictions for all three men.
Justice Belinda Rigg ordered Maurice Hawell and David face a retrial in the NSW District Court.
The convictions against Marius Hawell were dismissed and verdicts of acquittal entered in their place.
Maurice Hawell had been jailed for 14 years, David for 13 years and Marius nine years.
After having consensual sex on a Friday night, two 18-year-old victims told the jury they went to retrieve their phones from a darkened bedroom where they were pushed onto the bed, stripped and “swarmed” by naked men.
Outlining who performed which sexual assault was impossible because the room was dark and the men were convicted as part of a joint criminal enterprise to rape and sexually touch the women.
On the following night, a 19-year-old told the jury she entered the apartment after being pressured to join for drinks, but she was raped by Maurice Hawell and David, who took turns swapping sexual positions.
Marius Hawell came into the room and watched, the jury was told, and was not accused of participating in penetrative sex on the first night.
During the appeal in August, the men’s lawyers claimed the jury may have been led to misinterpret the trio’s state of mind over the weekend of offending.
Tim Game SC said the evidence may have been misconstrued as a “shared job” or a “job for the lot” when considered all together for each man, leading to an unreasonable verdict.
“It has a sinister element because it turns consensual sex into the threat of non-consensual sex and there’s absolutely nothing to support that proposition,” David’s barrister said.
David and Maurice Hawell will return to the NSW District Court on December 12.
His younger brother can be immediately released from prison.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
