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AAP
AAP
National
Luke Costin

Bondi man allegedly raped drunk woman

Thomas Joseph Nicol has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman after drinking and snorting cocaine. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

A Sydney woman repeatedly pressed her alleged rapist to tell her what occurred after she ended up in his bed, eventually drawing out what prosecutors say is proof of his guilty mind, a jury has been told.

Thomas Joseph Nicol has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in his Bondi home after a night out drinking and snorting cocaine in January 2021.

He denies having sexual intercourse with the woman and is expected to tell the Sydney District Court jury the intoxicated pair engaged in consensual sexual activity.

The then-33-year-old had been contacted by the woman on Instagram that evening and the pair agreed to party together, first at his place and then another person's unit, the Crown said in an opening address on Monday.

At the second location, the woman became ill, fell asleep on a couch and then couldn't find her phone, leading Nicol to escort her back to his home.

"The next thing she remembers is waking up lying on her back and her legs being in the air," prosecutor Emilija Beljic said the woman was expected to say.

"She felt like her body was paralysed and she couldn't do anything to stop it."

A key matter will be the woman's disputed assertion Nicol ejaculated on her.

After reporting her suspicion of rape to friends and an Uber driver the next day, she then went to Nicol with questions, the Crown said.

"Did you touch me last night while I was sleeping?"

Nicol said the pair "spooned and snuggled".

"Did you have sex with me whilst I was asleep?"

"I was asleep until you woke me up," Nicol allegedly replied, before saying "we didn't have sex, we hooked up for a bit".

When she asked why she'd found something later linked to his DNA profile in her hair, he said the pair engaged in digital sex and "I can assure you, I didn't blow".

The Crown relied on the "blow" line "as a lie in the consciousness of guilt," Ms Beljic said.

Nicol later backtracked to say maybe he did "blow".

He said sorry "for that" when the woman told him he'd violated her and broken her trust.

But defence lawyer Phillip Boulten SC said the pair were both friendly towards each other and she was "quite obviously" consenting during sexual activity.

"Both of them were affected by alcohol but not so badly that either of them ... didn't know what they were doing," he said.

Nicol had unintentionally and unfortunately felt he would ejaculate, was embarrassed by that and didn't clean up a bedpost.

"It will be the defence case that the DNA evidence is entirely consistent with what my client will tell you on oath: any semen or DNA ... is completely consistent (with) secondary transfer," Mr Boulten said.

The trial continues.

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