A 70-year-old man faces trial for the rape of a grandmother more than 40 years ago, following a court decision that cleared him of an earlier alleged attack on the same woman due to lack of evidence.
Court Commits Charges on 1983 Incident
Michael Francis Martin appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, where a magistrate committed him to stand trial on three charges related to the alleged rape of Jessie Grace Lauder on July 6, 1983, at her home in Newport, Melbourne’s inner west.
DNA evidence recovered from the scene proved sufficient for a jury to determine guilt or innocence. Martin denies the allegations and pleaded not guilty to each charge.
Earlier 1981 Allegations Dismissed
Prosecutors initially charged Martin with seven offenses spanning two alleged sexual assaults in the early 1980s, including four counts from a 1981 incident when Lauder was 82 years old. Those charges involved intent to commit assault with an offensive weapon and aggravated sexual assault.
Without DNA evidence for the 1981 case, the prosecution highlighted 13 similarities between the attacks, such as the location, victim, timing, instructions to lie on the floor, remove clothing, and avoid calling police.
Martin’s defense countered with six key differences, including the use of a weapon, demands for silence, and theft of money.
Magistrate’s Ruling on Evidence
Magistrate Rohan Lawrence described the alleged offenses as “most serious and certainly traumatic” and “reprehensible.” However, he noted that the prosecution’s similarities occur in “many instances of sexual offending by an intruder.”
“I do not believe there is a reasonable possibility that the Crown would be permitted to rely on coincidence reasoning to argue that the accused was responsible for the first offending,” Lawrence stated.
He discharged Martin on the four 1981 charges, finding no strong link between the two events. Lauder, who passed away in 1993, cannot testify.
Martin received bail and is scheduled for a directions hearing in the County Court on March 18.
