Ex-NSW cop cleared of one sex offence, hung jury on other charges

A former police officer in New South Wales was cleared of one sex offence but faced a hung jury on four other charges, according to a trial that concluded after a week of deliberations. David Robert Blackbourne, who was serving as a police officer in 1998, allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in a town near the NSW-Victoria border.

He was charged with multiple counts, including sexual intercourse without consent and misconduct by a holder of public office. The jury found him not guilty of one count of assault with an act of indecency, but couldn't reach a verdict on the remaining four charges. The case was discharged by Judge Hew Baker SC, and the matter has been relisted for later in the month.

Blackbourne, now 56, was arrested in 2023 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The prosecution presented two recorded phone calls as evidence, which helped the complainant remember details about the alleged incident from 1998. The defence argued that the complainant's memory of key events might have been influenced by her conversations with her former boss. The trial's outcome will be revisited later this month.