Qld retrial over alleged rape of tourist

Alan George Vico was found guilty of one count of rape after a judge-only trial in August 2020 and sentenced to five-and-a-half years' in jail.

The verdict was set aside by the Queensland Court of Appeal in a decision published on Friday.

Police allege the woman was raped in a Cairns motel room after a night out in September 2018.

She had been studying in Brisbane and travelled to the north Queensland city for a short visit.

Vico, who was 52 at the time, did not know the woman prior to the event and court documents state the issue of the trial was consent - not whether the pair had sex.

"The sole issue in dispute at the trial was whether the Crown could establish ... that the complainant lacked cognitive capacity to give consent," the appeal judgment states.

"The lack of cognitive capacity to consent was said to be evidenced by the complainant's state of severe intoxication."

Vico's actions after the alleged offence were highlighted as a reason for the appeal being granted.

The primary judge's findings were said to contain no reason as to why removing condoms from the motel room was evidence of a guilty conscience.

"The empty condom packages remained in the motel room. Such contact seems inconsistent with an intention to remove evidence of sexual intercourse without consent," the judgment states.

Australian Associated Press