Qld man acquitted of spiking date’s drink

Cheryl Goodenough | April 13, 2022

A man has been found not guilty of spiking the drink of a woman he met on Tinder, but a jury has been unable to reach a verdict on accusations of rape.

Jon Dennis Gurney was charged with two counts of rape and one count of administering an unknown drug intending to commit a sexual act.

But after about seven hours of deliberation Brisbane District Court Judge Michael Rackemann discharged the jurors, saying they were irretrievably deadlocked in reaching a verdict about the rape charges.

The Crown argued Gurney told the 33-year-old woman days after meeting her on the dating app that he had slipped MDMA into her drink while at a pub.

The Crown’s case was that Gurney raped the woman at her home after leaving the pub.

The court was told she found “Sorry babe” written on a post-in note after he had left her house.

But the jury rejected the Crown’s case regarding the alleged drugging, finding him not guilty.

Defence barrister Stephen Kissick said the woman would have been angry after finding the note because she would have looked out the window and seen Gurney driving away in his ex-girlfriend’s car.

He said texts between the pair don’t show his client in a good way, but that didn’t make him a rapist.

Gurney’s case is due to be mentioned in the same court on Thursday.