Ex-Mitchell Mistresses owner Bradley Grey fails to overturn convictions in ACT Court of Appeal

Bradley Lester Grey, 57, stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court in 2019 after pleading not guilty to 27 sex charges relating to nine women who had worked for him at Mitchell Mistresses.

He was ultimately found guilty of 14 rapes and six acts of indecency against seven of the women.

Grey had hired the victims, all of whom were new to the sex industry, after inviting them to his brothel for job interviews and subjecting them to "training" that involved sexual activity.

These incidents occurred between December 2015 and December 2016.

Following the conclusion of his trial, Grey pleaded guilty to a federal charge of trafficking an underage girl for sex.

Grey drove the 17-year-old victim around Australia between June and August 2013, and had her provide sexual services to about 130 men in Adelaide, Brisbane, regional Queensland, Sydney and Perth.

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Chief Justice Helen Murrell sentenced him to 11 years and five months in jail, ordering him to serve at least six years and three months of that term without parole.

Grey, who had also previously worked as an escort, filed a notice of appeal soon after his trial.

He challenged seven of his rape convictions on the basis the trial jury's verdicts on those charges were "unsafe or unsatisfactory".

Grey, who was legally represented in the Supreme Court, decided to go it alone in the ACT Court of Appeal.

He prepared his appeal in custody and claimed two of the acts in question were consensual, while arguing the other five had never happened.

In his submissions to the Court of Appeal when his challenge was heard in May 2021, he also claimed his lawyers had "failed" him during his trial and that there had therefore been a miscarriage of justice.

Grey added that he regretted not giving evidence before the jury.

Two judges, Justice Michael Wigney and Acting Justice Verity McWilliam, said in a joint judgment delivered on Monday that Grey had not substantiated any grounds of his appeal against his convictions.

Their fellow appeal judge, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson, also found the matters raised by Grey on appeal did not "call into question the verdicts" the 57-year-old complained about.

The court therefore dismissed Grey's appeal against his convictions.

Justice Loukas-Karlsson did, however, believe the court should uphold a separate appeal brought by Grey in relation to the severity of his sentence.

She found the jail term was "manifestly excessive", proposing to knock seven months off the rapist's total sentence and impose a non-parole period 10 months shorter than the original.

Justice Loukas-Karlsson was outnumbered, however, with Justice Wigney and Acting Justice McWilliam disagreeing and dismissing that appeal as well.

Grey's sentence will therefore remain unchanged.

Having been in custody since his arrest in February 2018, he will be eligible for parole in May 2024.

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