6

your adventure starts here

NEWS

THE CANBERRA TIMES Thursday, July 18, 2013 www.canberratimes.com.au

MEGA

ON NOW

STOREWIDE

Girl abused by close friend of the family

Judge finds man guilty
By Michael Inman Court Reporter

Academic never lost faith in balancing act

SALE
40% OFF
TENTS, BIKES, SLEEPING BAGS & MORE

20% OFF

A Canberra man has been found guilty of two offences against a girl four years after he was charged and a decade after the abuse. William Thomas Girvan, 64, was found guilty in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday of forcing the victim to touch his genitals on two occasions at her home between 2001 and 2006. The defendant had been regarded as an uncle by the victim and her siblings and would visit her home frequently. The victim said on one occasion she had been playing video games when Girvan entered the room, hugged her, pushed her hand down his pants and forced her to squeeze his erect penis. The second incident occurred about a week later when he forced her to sit on his lap and pushed her hands down his pants to touch his genitals. The offences came to light after the girl confided in a school friend and then her mother in 2009. Girvan was arrested and charged with two counts of indecent acts on a child under 16. He denied the allegations and was tried by judge alone trial in August last year. Justice Richard Refshauge reserved his judgment and delivered it on Wednesday. The judge amended the indictment to extend the period in which the abuse occurred and found Girvan guilty of the offences. Justice Refshauge, in the judgment, found the length of time

JUDGMENT: Justice Richard Refshauge said denials by the accused were unconvincing.

between the incidents and the trial had not prejudiced the case or placed Girvan at a disadvantage. Justice Refshauge found the victim to be the more credible witness. I am satisfied that she was telling the truth about the incidents that have formed the basis for the counts on the indictment, the judge wrote in the judgment. It seems to me that her evidence is supported to a significant degree by the other evidence though, of course, there was no direct evidence to support her account of the events themselves. Justice Refshauge wrote the defendants evidence at trial did not inspire confidence that he was telling the whole truth. I consider he sought to minimise the access he had to the house at Banks, the judge wrote. He denied committing the alleged incidents, but I was not convinced by his denials and do not accept them. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the incidents ... did take place and that Mr Tom Girvan is guilty of the offences. Justice Refshauge continued Girvans bail and ordered a presentence report. Girvan will be sentenced in September.

PROUD: Alex Bruce wearing his graduation and Buddhist monk robes. Photo: GRAHAM TIDY By Dante Ceccon

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CANBERRA Far beneath the majesty and splendour of the Paris Opera House, hides the Phantom in a shadowy existence...

REELS SAVE ON ANY $150 WAECO FRIDGE

STUFF-IT
CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

ALL FISHING

20% OFF
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics by Charles Hart Additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe

50% OFF 40% OFF

JACKETS & VESTS

Book by Richard Stilgoe & Andrew Lloyd Webber Based on the novel Le Fantme de lOpra by Gaston Leroux
STARRING MICHAEL CORMICK STARRING JULIE LEA GOODWIN

Australian National University Associate Professor Alex Bruce had good reason for pride in both his robes when he received his PhD on Wednesday afternoon. The ordained Buddhist monk, who studied animal law, is one of 2000 students graduating from the university this week. The academic of more than a decade said it was a relief to have completed the required 100,000-word thesis while balancing commitments to his faith as an ordained monk of the Tibetan tradition. I treated the six months as a retreat so I fitted my prayers and meditation around my research, he said. The one-time lawyers path to Buddhism began young, when he would often read about the faith as a child. Id always been interested in Buddhism from an early age and it was my mother who gave me a book and that was it, he said. I always used to go to Buddhist centres. The associate professor said it was his passion to use his knowledge of the law to campaign on issues of social justice. My abbot sent me back to the university to promote wisdom and compassion and to use the law as an instrument of social justice, he said. Animal law, a relatively new academic discipline, is the study of consumer and competition law to benefit animals. Im hoping to establish animal law as an active discipline; Ive got three PhD students already interested in pursuing it, he said. There is enormous scope for it to expand. Dr Bruce said Buddhism teachings, including respect for animals, was what sparked his interest in their welfare. When supermarkets say free-range eggs, that might not actually be the case, so we look at how that could be misleading, he said. We treat some animals better than others. Dr Bruce celebrated the day with family. Im just delighted that my parents and sister have come from Queensland, he said. Business and economics students will graduate on Thursday while science, medicine, engineering and arts students will be handed their certificates on Friday.

List of graduates Page 13

50% OFF 50% OFF

CLOTHING
AVAILABLE IN SELECTED STORES
Styles may vary between stores. Excludes already reduced items. On sale until Tuesday 23rd July 2013.

Apology
9-18 AUGUST 2013 CANBERRA THEATRE
In the Masters Price Rules catalogue on sale 18th July the 138mm x 23mm x 5.4m Clever Deck Composite Decking Board on page 6 has been incorrectly advertised. The correct description is Clever Deck Composite Decking Board 138mm x 23mm x 5.4m $11.74 per linear metre.
Logo TM & 1986 RUG Ltd.

EXCLUDES THERMALS AND RAIN WEAR

CLOTHING

FYSHWICK Iron Knob St, Fyshwick. Ph. (02) 6123 3600

BOOKINGS 02 6275 2700 CANBERRATHEATRECENTRE.COM.AU

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORiGiN

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

anaconda.com.au

THEATRICAL ON BEHALF OF THE REALLY USEFUL GROUP LIMITED

MP150714NCTAP