The former manager of a famous outback pub in a West Australian tourist hotspot has told a jury that messages he sent to his employee asking her to “rape” and “abuse” him were “work terminology”.

Stewart Patrick Burchell is on trial in the WA District Court, sitting in the tourist town of Broome, charged with a number of sex offences allegedly committed against six staff of the Roebuck Bay Hotel from 2017 to 2023.

Stewart Burchell leaves court on Friday. Credit: Hannah Murphy

He has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of indecent assault, and one count of rape. Burchell originally faced 16 charges of indecent assault, but Justice Belinda Lonsdale determined in court on Monday he had no case to answer on two of the offences.

On Tuesday, Burchell delivered evidence in his own trial for t

See Full Page