Qld: Backpacker assaulted fellow traveller in hostel: court

AAP General News (Australia)
04-22-2009
Qld: Backpacker assaulted fellow traveller in hostel: court

By Christine Flatley

BRISBANE, April 22 AAP - An Irish backpacker took advantage of a fellow traveller by
sexually assaulting her after she had fallen asleep in the common room of a hostel, a
court has been told.

Leonard Joseph Morgan, 28, slapped the 26-year-old Welsh backpacker's bottom and fondled
her breasts and genitals while she slept at the Prince Consort Hostel in Brisbane's Fortitude
Valley on May 5, 2007, the Brisbane District Court was told on Wednesday.

The court was told the travellers had been friends for about five months and had previously
shared a drunken kiss.

Morgan's barrister Craig Eberhardt said his client was trying to wake the woman up
when he assaulted her in the hope she would be willing to engage in sex.

Morgan pleaded guilty to her sexual assault.

The court was told Morgan was extremely drunk at the time of the assault and that he
had a significant problem with alcohol.

The court was told he has abstained from drinking since July 2008, when he spent a
short time in custody for a common assault charge, and that he has not since committed
any offences.

Mr Eberhardt said Morgan had already arranged to fly back to Ireland following his
sentence for the sexual assault.

Senior Judge Gilbert Trafford-Walker sentenced Morgan to nine months' jail, which was
suspended immediately.

AAP cf/pjo/ldj/mo

KEYWORD: MORGAN

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