PROSECUTORS have dropped all of the serious charges against a man who was accused of using a gun to rape a woman at Lemon Tree Passage after he had allegedly put the weapon in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
James Albert Traverso, 28, walked out of Cessnock Correctional Centre on Tuesday after prosecutors ordered there be no further proceedings in relation to five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent, using an offensive weapon to commit an act of intimidation, common assault and using an offensive weapon to prevent apprehension.
Traverso had been expected to face a trial in Newcastle District Court next week, but his lawyers, barrister Rob Hussey and solicitor Mark Ramsland, filed a no bill application, arguing there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction in the case given what they said were issues with the complainant's credibility.
A central issue was whether the gun - that prosecutors had alleged was used to intimidate, sexual assault and prevent Traverso's arrest before a tense four-hour siege in John Parade on March 17 last year - ever existed.
And so after spending more than 15 months behind bars, Traverso was on Tuesday granted bail after prosecutors agreed to drop all of the serious charges.
Other charges, relating to about $4000 in cash and about 40 grams of methamphetamine allegedly found in a bum bag when Traverso was arrested, were sent back to Raymond Terrace Local Court next week.
According to court documents, prosecutors had alleged Traverso had assaulted a woman at the house in Lemon Tree Passage on March 15 last year, slamming her head into a wall after an argument.
He had allegedly done the same thing a few days later after an argument over the woman's ex-partner throwing rocks at the house, on this occasion the allegation was that Traverso had threatened to shoot the ex-partner and the woman had struck Traverso with a baseball bat in response.
The woman had claimed she went to warn her ex-partner about the threats, before returning to the house at Lemon Tree Passage, arguing with Traverso and going to lie down.
It was while she was in bed that she had claimed she had been confronted by Traverso who put a gun in her mouth for about 30 seconds and pulled the trigger. She then claimed she was sexually assaulted with the gun.
The woman told police she left the house and called triple-zero, but returned to keep Traverso there while the police were on their way.
She said the pair were in the garage when police arrived and claimed Traverso had put a gun to her back and told her what to say when speaking to officers.
Traverso was arrested about 5.45pm when police went to a nearby home in Elizabeth Avenue.
But in their no bill application, lawyers for Traverso had questioned how he would have been able to commit the offence of using the gun to avoid apprehension and escape with police surrounding the house.
And they highlighted the inconsistencies in the complainant's versions, which they said "created irreparable damage to her credibility" on the central issues in the case, particularly whether the gun ever existed.
And so facing the prospect of an unwinnable trial and then a costs application, the DPP ordered there be no further proceedings on Tuesday.
