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Robert Hughes lodges appeal against conviction

Lawyers for disgraced actor Robert Hughes have lodged an appeal against his child sex abuse conviction.

The 66-year-old former Hey Dad! star wants his six-year-minimum jail sentence reviewed, after being found guilty of abusing young girls in the 1980s.

"There are a number of substantive grounds to our contention that the trial was unfair,” said his lawyer Greg Walsh.


In handing down his judgment last May, Judge Peter Zahra described the sexual and indecent acts the actor had perpetrated on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s. The victims were between seven and 15 years old at the time.

Robert Hughes has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence. Source: AAP.
Robert Hughes has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence. Source: AAP.

The charges, he said, "represented a systematic pattern of sexual abuse of vulnerable young girls".

Hughes "took advantage of social and familial" engagements to carry out his "brazen" and "predatory" behaviour, he said.

The cast from Hey Dad! in 1992 - From left, Ben Oxenbould, Julie McGregor, Sarah Monahan, Robert Hughes, Mathew Krok and Rachael Beck. Photo: ABC.
The cast from Hey Dad! in 1992 - From left, Ben Oxenbould, Julie McGregor, Sarah Monahan, Robert Hughes, Mathew Krok and Rachael Beck. Photo: ABC.

Judge Zahra said Hughes "exploited the naivete" of these girls, and used his position of authority to "ensure their compliance".

Hughes pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of sexual or indecent assault.

An application has been lodged and the case will be heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal on May 7.

National news break – April 27