A judge could be removed from hearing criminal cases after a watchdog found he abused his power by criticising New South Wales’ top prosecutor and smearing a sex abuse accuser.

A report has revealed that in 2023, District Judge Robert Newlinds publicly criticised the New South Wales Public Prosecution Service over its ruling on a sexual abuse case, saying the trial was conducted in a way that was unfair to the accused.

During the trial, the report said Newlinds criticized the prosecution’s case, repeatedly calling it “hopeless.” Of the alleged sexual abuse victim, he said, “She wrongly thinks that if you have sex with someone and you don’t remember it, that’s sexual abuse.”

The suspect in this case was acquitted after a jury trial.

The Judicial Commission, New South Wales’ watchdog for judges, said Newlinds’ actions were almost worthy of a referral to parliament so that parliament could consider removing him from office.

Instead, it referred the case back to the chief judge of the district court, recommending that it was not appropriate for him to sit on state criminal cases in the near future.

The first complaint, filed by New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling, contained four allegations, including Newlinds’ “incompetence”, a lack of judicial impartiality, unreasonable criticism and defamation of the sexual abuse accuser, and unfounded criticism of the prosecution.

The commission’s three-member panel found that all four complaints were well-founded and that he had a “general prejudice” against the Crown, making it inappropriate for him to sit on criminal cases.

“The judge’s irascible, impulsive and undisciplined intervention during the argument and critical statements at various points in his judgment of the director … raise serious concerns about the judge’s ability to adhere to appropriate standards of judicial conduct,” the report said.

“We are concerned about the judge’s lack of understanding of the need to behave in a meaningful, balanced and respectful manner in court.”

Newlinds acknowledged that some of the allegations against him were true and admitted that he “shouldn’t have said” some things.

But the report’s authors said they were “concerned” about his “dismissal as trivial” and some aspects of the complaint.

He has been contacted for comment.

Newlinds was appointed a solicitor to the New South Wales Court in 2023, where he practised primarily in commercial law.

The report states that at one point during the trial he said, “I don’t practice criminal law, you know that, right?”

The New South Wales District Court has been contacted for comment.