His legal team will also argue Lyon failed to properly instruct jurors on the way the evidence could be used.
“The learned trial judge erred in his directions to the jury concerning (a) the permissible use to which the evidence relied upon as incriminating conduct might be put by the jury and (b) the limited circumstances in which the evidence relied upon as incriminating conduct might be used by the jury,” the second grounds for appeal says.
Stephen and Jo Silvagni outside the County Court in December last year.Credit: Joe Armao
Silvagni was sentenced to six years and two months behind bars and is eligible for parole after three years and three months.
The maximum jail term for rape is 25 years, with an average of seven to 10 years.
Last month, Lyon allowed the sentence to be broadcast live after Silvagni’s identity was kept secret due to a suppression order for more than a year.
The suppression order barring reporting of his identity had been in place since mid-2024 until it was lifted following his trial last month, with Silvagni’s lawyers citing evidence about their client’s mental health and his fears about the implications it could have on his famous family.
The suppression order was the subject of an ongoing legal battle between media outlets and the Silvagni family.
Lyon told the County Court in December that Silvagni had shown no remorse and that his actions towards the victim were egregious and showed a lack of empathy towards her.
“Although your crimes rose from an opportunity you could not have envisioned … your crimes were marked by planning, cunning and strategy in order to deceive,” he said.
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The victim, who cannot be named due to legal restrictions, spoke of the ongoing impact of the night and said she would carry the trauma of it for the rest of her life.
As she read her victim impact statement to Victoria’s County Court last month, the woman described the fear and confusion she felt over the rape and said she is still haunted by it every day.
“Tom Silvagni, you raped me not once but twice. You know this, I know this, and now so does everyone else,” she said in her statement.
“You were my friend, somebody I thought I could trust.”
“People think the worst part of this was the night you hurt me, but it’s … having to live with the aftermath every day since.”
If Silvagni’s appeal is successful, the Court of Appeal would quash his convictions and either order a retrial or acquit him.
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