SAT across from detectives in an interview room at Newcastle police station, a man accused of raping a woman in a random attack at Islington while drunk and out celebrating his work Christmas party had a few questions of his own.
"So what did I do?" the man asked towards the end of the two-hour interview. "Did I bash her or what? Let's get to the bottom of it so I know. I am pretty upset if I have done that."
The man, aged in his 50s, who cannot be identified, says he has no memory of the alleged "random and brazen attack" and has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and inflict actual bodily harm, his trial in Newcastle District Court focusing on what exactly happened inside a van parked on Maitland Road on the night of December 10, 2021.
The man had been at work on the morning of December 13 when police arrived and arrested him over a "sexual related matter".
And now he was in an interview room speaking to detectives, who were taking him through everything he did on Friday; from going to work, heading to his work Christmas party and then moving between a few pubs in Beaumont Street, Hamilton.
But then, at some point after leaving The Kent Hotel, the man said he had no more memory until he woke up at home on Saturday morning, his wife telling him she found him asleep on the grass outside King Street McDonald's.
"I haven't drank full-strength beers since January," the man tells police. "On the night I did, more than I probably should have. After The Kent I had blackouts. That's gospel. I don't know about any sexual assault, memory wise. I'm not saying I didn't do it, not saying I wasn't there."
As detectives continue to probe, attempt to establish a timeline and show the man CCTV stills of his night, it becomes clear that he can no longer fill in any blanks in the investigation and the man starts asking questions.
"So where was this?" the man asks police, pointing at a CCTV still of him standing outside a pub at Islington.
Shown another CCTV still of him walking by himself, the man asks: "Where are the fellas? Why am I by myself? Have they left me or have I left them?"
The police say they will explain in due course, but the man wants to know what happened.
"This is the person I've assaulted, is it?" the man asks, pointing at someone in a CCTV still.
Police tell him no and ask him more about what he remembers about being at The Kent.
"Is that where I hurt the girl?" the man asks.
Again he is told no and finally, after asking police to "get to the bottom of it", the man is told the allegation; that he approached a young woman at her van from behind, forced himself on her, put his hand around her neck, covered her mouth and raped her.
"No," the man says, his voice raspy as he is overcome with emotion. "No way, I wouldn't have done that. No way, no way."
The man, who admitted to having a longstanding problem with alcohol, maintained he would never attack a woman.
"I just apologise to her," he said. "I would never go out to do that. I am not that person. I just can't believe it."
At the conclusion of the police interview, the prosecution closed its case and the parties are expected to delivering closing addresses on Wednesday.
