Disgraced Australian sports and entertainment manager Ralph Carr has filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence for rape and sexual assault.
Carr made the legal move on Tuesday after a close friend of the former agent-to-the-stars told the Daily Mail he would certainly appeal the conviction.
However, Carr has almost no chance of having his matter heard before the end of the year, meaning he will spend Christmas behind bars.
Carr, prosecuted under his full name Ralph Carnovale-Carr, was found by a jury to have raped a woman multiple times at his Melbourne West warehouse home in March 2023.
He appeared at the Melbourne County Court via videolink from the Melbourne Assessment Prison on August 25 where he was jailed for a maximum of six years.
Carr, known for his flashy dress sense and wig, appeared on screen bald, clean-shaven and wearing prison greens as he was convicted on two counts of rape and a charge of sexual assault.
The former showbiz high-flyer made a failed stay of sentence application at his plea hearing in a ‘hail Mary’ bid to gain freedom, but for the time being will be housed in the brutal Melbourne Assessment Prison as he faces a lengthy wait to have his appeal heard.
Top silk Dermot Dann KC, for Carr, ran the stay application, telling the court the guilty verdicts were the ‘most obvious miscarriage of justice’ he had seen in his more than three decades of being a lawyer.
Ralph Carr as he appeared at court in August during his sentencing for rape
Carr was once married to Aussie pop star Tina Arena (right)
Carr (right) arrives at court earlier this year with his lawyer Dermot Dann KC (left)
‘In my view, he should not have been found guilty,’ Mr Dann said in August.
Mr Dann previously told the court his client maintained his innocence, which is why they sought the extraordinary stay of sentence application.
The esteemed criminal barrister also said his client’s unmasking had impacted his mental health, leading to suicidal thoughts, depressive symptoms and anxiety.
He had previously been the subject of a suppression order prior to his guilty verdict.
‘For someone who maintains innocence, this is a terrible, terrible situation,’ Mr Dann said.
The court heard that Carr, who was once married to pop star Tina Arena, had self-harmed by banging his head against a wall moments after his conviction.
Carr was convicted of raping the woman at his Melbourne home in the early hours of March 24, 2023, after she became emotional discussing a relationship break-up.
He hugged her and began kissing her and touching her breasts, waist and buttocks while she tried to push him away.
Carr helped launched the careers of Vanessa Amorosi (left) and Kate Ceberano (right)
Carr is well known for his close friendship with AFL legend Dustin Martin
Carr has been languishing at the notorious Melbourne Assessment Prison (above)
When she told him to stop, Carr told her he couldn’t because she was ‘so sexy’ before raping her twice while she cried into a pillow.
The woman did not submit a victim impact statement to the court.
Judge Frank Gucciardo refused the stay application before he denounced Carr’s offending as being ‘very serious’.
‘Your conduct was appalling,’ Judge Gucciardo said.
‘Rape is a crime of violence, this was committed by you in an egregious breach of trust and predatory opportunistic upon a young woman who had admired and had reposed a significant amount of trust in you as a… friend.
‘You took advantage of her at a point in time when she was not only intoxicated but vulnerable and in need of comfort and at a point in which she looked for you for care and support.
‘It was at that point, instead you chose to abuse that trust in the most abhorrent manner.’
Carr helped launch the careers of Vanessa Amorosi and Kate Ceberano and managed some of Australia’s most well-known figures including Richard Wilkins and footballer Dustin Martin.
Judge Gucciardo agreed Carr’s career was over and he considered it to be ‘extracurricular punishment’.
Carr was jailed for a maximum of six years with a minimum of four years.
