Appeal against former prison guard who raped women rejected

On Monday, a panel of Supreme Court judges rejected Astill’s appeal to overturn the conviction and sentence.

Astill, now in his late 60s, will spend at least 15 years and four months behind bars for abusing his position of power and committing crimes over several years until his suspension in 2019.

An appeal judge said Wayne Astill deliberately and repeatedly exploited his victims. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

Astill’s lawyers argued in their appeal that an instruction given to the jury during his 2023 trial regarding his tendency to behave in a certain way toward female inmates resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

Among the evidence of bias used by the prosecution was that Astill showed preferential treatment to some inmates and made sexually suggestive comments to them.

The judges agreed, however, that not admitting evidence presented by one inmate in support of a bias relating to other complaints made by the same inmate would have unduly increased the complexity of the jury’s task.

Astill’s lawyers also argued that both his maximum and minimum sentences were manifestly excessive, but the appeals panel ruled that the sentence, while “harsh,” was appropriate.

“(Astill) exploited the victims’ vulnerability in a deliberate, repeated and systematic manner and showed no remorse for doing so,” Judge Richard Button said in his verdict.

“His actions represented a gross and sustained breach of trust that directly harmed the inmates.”

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