A bare assertion of consent in an out-of-court statement to police, without exposing the factual basis for the claim, is incapable of satisfying the evidentiary burden for the objective limb of the defence of honest and reasonable mistake under s 24 of the Criminal Code (WA). A Crofts direction is not required where there is no material delay in complaint and delay was not a significant issue at trial. A warning about the use of evidence of a complainant's distressed condition is not required where the trial judge did not use that evidence as corroboration.
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