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Man charged with historic Sydney sexual assault to face court Man charged with 'horrific' 1996 Sydney sexual assault
(about 4 hours later)
A man is set to face a Sydney court over the alleged violent sexual assault of a young woman in the car park of a Parramatta nightclub more than 20 years ago. Twenty years after a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted, bashed and left for dead in a Sydney nightclub car park, a man is in custody charged with the attack.
A 44-year-old man has been extradited from South Australia after he was arrested on Monday following a breakthrough in the investigation late last year. A breakthrough last year in the cold case of the 19-year-old found battered and unconscious outside Parramatta leagues club led to the arrest of 44-year-old John Clayton Sims in South Australia on Monday.
The then 19-year-old woman was left with a brain injury and facial fractures after the alleged attack on a Friday night in March 1996. Police allege Sims met his victim in the club’s nightclub on a Friday night in March 1996, with the woman believing he knew her boyfriend.
Police allege the woman had attended a Parramatta nightclub with friends and during the evening met a man, who she believed knew her boyfriend. Their conversation continued outside the nightclub before the man allegedly physically and sexually assaulted her in the car park, police allege. Det Insp Mick Haddow says at some point in the night she went with him outside. “After a short dispute between the two, we’ll be alleging that this male viciously and horrifically assaulted the victim,” he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
Officers later discovered the woman unconscious. She was taken to Westmead hospital where she remained for several weeks as she underwent surgery for multiple facial fractures and treatment for a brain injury. “She was found a number of hours later unconscious in the car park by local police and she had suffered significant head injuries.”
A person of interest was not identified at the time of the alleged assault but last November further forensic analysis led to a breakthrough. As a result, the 44-year-old man was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, aggravated sexual assault, inflict actual bodily harm, and inflict actual bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse. The woman was in Westmead hospital for weeks, undergoing treatment for a brain injury and surgery for multiple facial fractures. No suspect was identified until advances in forensic technology made it possible last year.
He was set to face central local court on Thursday. The case was referred to NSW police’s sex crimes squad and officers swooped on Sims in Adelaide on Monday night. He was extradited on four charges – maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, aggravated sexual assault, inflicting actual bodily harm and doing so with intent to have sexual intercourse.
Haddow said the victim was “very pleased” with the result. “These injuries were very, very significant and like any injury, it takes a long time to heal – the physical scars – but obviously the mental scars continue,” he said.
“There is no question the forensic capability of this police force and all police forces now, compared to 1996, have changed significantly.”
Sims did not appear when his charges were mentioned in Sydney’s central local court on Thursday and there was no application for bail. The case is due to return to court in July.