Ralph Carr in ‘living hell’ after being convicted of rape, Victorian court hears

Lawyer for the entertainment industry and AFL figure says his career is ‘destroyed’ following conviction

Entertainment industry and AFL figure Ralph Carr says he is in “living hell” and has been “destroyed” after being convicted of rape, a Victorian court has heard.

Carr was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial in the county court of Victoria last month.

He pleaded not guilty to the offences, which were committed against a former employee in March 2023.

On Monday, the court heard that Carr told psychiatrist Dr Jacqueline Rakov that he had deliberately hit his head while in custody as an act of self-harm and was having three to four panic attacks a day.

Dermot Dann KC, for Carr, said that a 14 August report from Rakov based on three video conversations she had with him while he was in custody in the Melbourne Assessment prison also detailed that he spent 23 hours a day on lockdown in his prison cell.

“When he describes it as like a living hell, and that he’s destroyed … what he means by being destroyed … is because of the nature of the reporting, the scale of the reporting.

“His career is destroyed, no matter what comebacks he makes in terms of these proceedings,” Dann said.

“The damage to his career has been done, because his career relied on public relations, connections, knowing the right people at the right time, creating opportunities for his clients. But now, the situation is completely different.”

Dann said Rakov was concerned Carr could kill himself if his application for a stay on his sentence was denied.

“If someone has hope, if there’s a goal for someone, a prospect for someone … that’s something to look forward to,” Dann said.

“If that hope or that goal is ruined, we would say this situation is particularly concerning, particularly dark, particularly grim … for someone who maintains their innocence.

Dann said it was unclear whether Carr was being held in 23-hour lockdown because of his risk of self-harm or because he was a high-profile inmate who could be at risk of harm from others.

Carr told Rakov he also had been recommended for hospital transportation twice because of his blood pressure, which had reached rates above 200, and was barely sleeping or eating.