Convicted rapist Christo Brown has been refused legal aid for an appeal against his sentence for raping a 76-year-old West Launceston woman in her bed.
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Barrister Alan Hensley appeared for Brown at a directions hearing at Hobart Supreme Court on Thursday and told Justice Michael Brett he had made an application to Legal Aid Tasmania to review the decision.
If the rejection is upheld, Brown has the option to apply for the court to make an order that legal aid be made available to him.
Brown, then aged 18, had entered the home of an elderly woman in July 2015 and told her to take off her clothes before he violently raped her.
He then demanded she give him $250.
He fled to Melbourne the morning after but was extradited by police and flown back to Tasmania.
Brown was unanimously found guilty of the rape and burglary in July and was last month sentenced to eight years’ jail with a non-parole period of four years.
Justice Brett set a date for a further directions hearing for the appeal on Oct 29 and a tentative appeal hearing date of November 12.