Groom shows no remorse after gang raping three teenagers during bucks party

A groom has failed to show any remorse or contrition for his “terrified” victims after he gang raped three teenagers during his bucks party weekend in Newcastle. Maurice Hawell, 30, was celebrating his upcoming wedding with his friend Andrew David, 30, and his younger brother Marius Hawell, 23, in February 2022 when they attacked three women. The court was told the trio sexually assaulted two 18-year-old women on the Friday night before attacking a 19-year-old woman the following night. The three men were found guilty of engaging in a joint criminal enterprise to sexually assault the women after a weeks-long trial in the NSW District Court earlier this year. Maurice faced the NSW District Court on Wednesday wearing a prison-issued green T-shirt with a silver crucifix necklace for a hearing ahead of his sentencing next month. The court heard he has continued to maintain all of the sexual activity was consensual and he had not shown any remorse or empathy for his victims. Judge Gina O’Rourke noted his prospects of rehabilitation were “tarred” because rehabilitation requires a level of insight into the offending. “None of the remorse or empathy or insight is directed towards the victims,” she said. “That mitigating factor is simply not present.” Crown prosecutor Craig Evans said there was no evidence that the 30-year-old had ever previously been respectful of women, including when he was drinking alcohol. The submission was rejected by Maurice’s lawyer Richard Pontello SC, who argued his client’s glowing character references showed he was a person of prior good character. The court heard Maurice was “brought up in a family of women” and volunteered at various charities. “He’s got intellect, he’s got a good career, and then he’s done this,” Judge O’Rourke noted. David and Marius faced a similar hearing on Tuesday, where they heard from two of their victims about the ruinous impact of the sexual assaults. The 19-year-old victim said she was “terrified to face the world” after she was sexually assaulted by Maurice and David while Marius watched. She told the court she was “left feeling vulnerable”, “experienced panic attacks” and was “unable to leave my home alone” in the months that followed. “I felt I deeply lost myself,” the teen explained. During the trial, the court heard Maurice had used a fake name when he lured the woman back to the Airbnb with the promise of pre-drinks. Instead, he led her into a bedroom and asked her to have a threesome with him and David. Despite her lack of consent, the 19-year-old said Maurice raped her while Andrew knelt on her shoulders and forced his penis into her mouth. The court heard Marius watched as Maurice and Andrew took turns sexually assaulting the woman. The teen said she put her pants on backwards in her haste to leave the apartment afterwards, and she was “sobbing”. In her letter to the court, she said she blamed herself and spent countless sleepless nights thinking about what she could have done differently to prevent the “traumatic” gang rape. One of the two 18-year-old women who was gang raped by the men on the previous night revealed the attack had taken a “massive emotional toll” on every aspect of her life. “This event has made me stop trusting the people around me,” she said in a statement read out on Tuesday. “I was unable to trust any man … it’s unfair I have to regain my trust in people.” During the trial, the court heard Maurice tried to sexually touch one of the 18-year-olds on the upper thigh, near her groin, when she was at the Airbnb on the Friday night. “I don’t, like, want that,” she recalled telling the groom-to-be. As they were retrieving their phones from a bedroom and preparing to leave, the two 18-year-old women said they were pinned to beds and sexually assaulted in a pitch dark room. One of the victims described being raped by a man she couldn’t see while another man knelt on her arms and thrust his penis into her mouth. At the same time, the other 18-year-old said she was being held down and stripped naked by a “swarm” of men before being sexually assaulted. Although none of the teens could see their assailants, the jurors determined Andrew, Maurice, and Marius were responsible for the gang rapes. Judge O’Rourke told the court the offending “continued over a period of 24-plus hours, (and involved) three victims, different acts and different circumstances.” The trio continue to maintain their innocence, with Maurice and Andrew claiming the sexual activity was consensual while Marius argues he hadn’t engaged in any sex acts during the bucks weekend. The men will be sentenced when they return to court next month, but they have already indicated they will appeal their convictions. Sexual assault support lines embed