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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Toby Vue

'Not good enough': Warrant issued for rape accused after second no-show

Seti Palei Moala leaving court when he was granted bail in April. Picture: Toby Vue

Another warrant has been issued for an accused rapist who failed to attend court for the second time, with a magistrate labelling his excuse as not being "a good enough reason".

Seti Palei Moala, 26, has not pleaded to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one of choking.

A prosecution document tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court on a previous occasion states that during a night out in Canberra in early April, a woman had met co-accused Paula Fala Kata, with whom she travelled to the Canberra Lyneham Motor Inn where he was staying.

There, the complainant saw two other men sleeping in the room before she and Kata, 33, had consensual sex.

She then fell asleep before being woken up by Moala allegedly on top of her and telling her she could not get him off because he was "like Spider-Man".

The complainant tried to fight him off, but the defendant kept saying he was like Spider-Man.

Moala then became agitated, triggering him to allegedly choke her before raping her.

Kata, who is also before the court and has not pleaded to his charges, was sitting at a table before going over to the bed where he grabbed her mouth, causing it to bleed, before allegedly raping her.

After the ordeal was finished, the complainant had only a doona blanket wrapped around her because the men refused to give her clothes back.

She had a bloody nose and started striking out at both men. She was also crying hysterically and demanded the men leave immediately.

When the complainant arrived home, she told another woman about the incident before being taken to the Canberra Hospital for a forensic medical examination.

A doctor provided police with a synopsis of her injuries that included bleeding from her vagina.

Moala was listed to appear in court on Friday but failed to do so.

Magistrate Robert Cook said the court received a note from Moala saying he was not attending "due to out of state".

"That's not a good enough reason. These are serious matters," Mr Cook said.

The magistrate noted that this was not the first time a warrant was issued for the Moala.

The defendant, who was initially granted bail in April in which conditions included him residing in Granville, NSW, was extradited to the ACT after failing to appear in court on May 10.

During a hearing in June, Prosecutor Sam Bargwanna opposed bail based on the defendant's likelihood of failing to appear in court.

Mr Bargwanna said there was no reasonable excuse as to Moala's failure to appear in May and that he failed to surrender passports and to report to Granville Police Station, which were bail conditions imposed.

The court on that occasion granted the defendant another opportunity on conditional liberty with the same conditions as previously.

On Friday, prosecutor Brandon Perkins indicated that one of the rape charges would be amended.

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