Grace Millane murderer Jesse Kempson appears in court for appeal of other cases

Two women who accused Grace Millane’s killer of also abusing them, resulting in two more trials and findings of guilt, were motivated to exaggerate their claims in solidarity with the slain British backpacker.

That was one of the contentions from Jesse Shane Kempson’s lawyers today as the infamous convicted murderer appeared via audio-video feed before a Court of Appeal panel in Auckland.

The 30-year-old prisoner sat in a holding cell, often resting his chin in his hands as defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, addressed Justices Forrie Miller, Matthew Muir and David Gendall. He did not speak during the three-hour hearing.

Mansfield said the crux of the appeal could be boiled down to a statement made by one of Kempson’s accusers during the second of three trials.

“I was Grace’s voice and I will be Grace’s voice,” the woman testified when asked about Millane’s murder, which by that point had generated widespread interest in New Zealand and overseas.

Her evidence “wasn’t reliable” in part due to her desire to help police in the Millane case, Mansfield argued, adding that inconsistencies in her statements to police and in the witness box necessitated more “robust analysis” by the judges who oversaw the trials.

Kempson was convicted by a jury of Millane’s murder in November 2019. His appeal of that conviction and sentence was previously rejected by the Court of Appeal, so today’s hearing focused solely on the two judge-alone trials that followed in October and November 2020.

In the October 2020 trial, Justice Timothy Brewer heard testimony from a former partner of the defendant who outlined abuse that she said included slamming her on the ground so she struggled to breathe, threatening her with a butcher knife, rape, locking her out on a balcony in the rain and explicitly telling her one night that he intended to murder her.

He was found guilty of two charges of sexual violation, three of assault, two of assault with a weapon and one of threatening to kill. Justice Brewer ordered a sentence of seven years and six months’ imprisonment.

Days later, a trial began before Justice Geoffrey Venning in which he was accused of raping a woman, whom he had met on Tinder, at the end of their first date.

After finding him guilty of that charge as well, Justice Venning ordered a sentence of three and a half years, to be stacked on top of the sentence for the other abuse case.

Both sentences are being served concurrently with his murder sentence: life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years.

The woman with whom he was in a previous relationship went to police before Millane’s murder. She spent $3000 on a restraining order but didn’t pursue criminal charges until after the Millane case came to light. The woman who said she was raped during the Tinder date went to police after recognising Kempson in overseas media coverage after his murder arrest.

It’s clear, Mansfield said, that both accusers thought they were co-operating with police as part of the Millane case.

“That provides, unfortunately, fertile ground [for exaggeration],” the lawyer said.

Jesse Kempson appears in Court of Appeal over convictions. Photo / Craig Kapitan

He noted that numerous text messages between Kempson and the woman he had a relationship with never touched on physical or sexual abuse.

The woman who said she was raped on her first date with Kempson acted in ways that night that suggested she wanted to be there, Mansfield also suggested, pointing out that she had opportunities to call an Uber if she had wanted to end the date.

“It could also be said that both perhaps felt a need to explain an otherwise voluntary relationship,” Mansfield told the panel. “In this case there was very much a motive by which both women might feel compelled to exaggerate the nature of their relationship with Mr Kempson.”

But Justice Miller also noted Kempson’s “highly manipulative behaviour”, which was described by both women.

“That is a theme of both cases for which you haven’t really focused,” he told Mansfield.

Kempson’s lawyers also made brief submissions suggesting that stacking both sentences was “excessive”.

Crown prosecutor Fiona Culliney said the judges in both cases carefully analysed witness inconsistencies and other aspects of the defence - and rightly found the women to be reliable witnesses, she said.

Given the manipulative and controlling nature of the relationship, it’s not unusual that Kempson’s ex-partner might not have wanted to discuss physical abuse via texts, she said. Nevertheless, she added, Kempson in one text said he was enrolled in an anger management course - suggesting there had been an issue with violence.

The prosecutor also spoke in support of the accuser’s statement during trial that she was speaking on behalf of Millane.

“That comment doesn’t suggest that she has a motive to lie but shows the depth of emotion she feels” at having dated someone who went on to kill another woman, she said.

As for the third accuser who described the rape during their first and only date, it’s far from clear that she could have simply called an Uber and left, Culliney said. She didn’t have a New Zealand bank account at that time and didn’t think she could use the rideshare app. She also had lost her purse and didn’t have cash for a taxi, and she didn’t know where she was, the prosecutor said.

She did, however, send a text message to a friend stating: “Please tell me you’re still awake, please, please, please”.

The Court of Appeal panel concluded the hearing by announcing that they will reserve their decision.

The hearing was attended by multiple members of the media and by Detective Inspector Scott Beard, who was the lead investigator on the Millane case. Both victims in the cases heard today and the Millane family were aware of the hearing, he said.

“We will be in touch with them to let them know how today has gone,” Beard said, declining further comment until the Court of Appeal decision is issued.