R v Al-Assadi: Experience of crime and apprehended bias

In the week before Easter, the Court of Appeal handed down the decision of R v Al-Assadi [2011] VSCA 111. While there were multiple grounds of appeal, the only one that succeeded was an apprehended bias argument. This case is, to my knowledge, the first time an apprehended bias argument has succeeded on the basis that the judge knew someone who had experienced a crime similar to that alleged by the complainant. It will, I expect, present substantial problems for the judge in question (who cannot be named because it would reveal the identity of a victim of a sexual offence), given the bulk of work in the County Court.