A woman who alleges she was raped by a high-profile Sydney man while she was his intern, appeared “jittery” and “anxious to leave” after he allegedly raped her again about four or five months later, a court has heard.
A witness – who is a friend of the woman who alleges she is raped, and is known as complainant one – appeared before the NSW Downing Centre district court on Monday, in the fifth day of a trial expected to last 10 weeks.
The man invited the witness and complainant one to his workplace and they were “very drunk” when they arrived, the witness told the court. The invitation came about four or five months after the woman, then 19 and working as his intern, says she was allegedly raped by the man who was then in his mid-30s, the court heard.
The woman alleges that while at his workplace he raped her for the second time, although this incident does not form part of the charges against the man.
The accused, whom Guardian Australia cannot name due to a suppression order, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to 12 charges – which include six counts of rape – alleged to have occurred over a six-year period against six women on separate occasions.
The crown is arguing the man had a tendency to carry out sexual conduct with usually much younger females, knowing that they did not consent or that he was reckless to their consent.
The man’s defence contends that there was sex with five of the women who have alleged they were raped, including complainant one. However, his defence argues, the sex was consensual, “not in the circumstances alleged by the crown”, and that the complainants “admired the accused, even idolised him”.
In giving evidence about the second alleged rape against the woman, the witness told the court she recalled the man asking complainant one to tour the workplace and they then disappeared from the witness’s sight for what felt like “a long time”.
When they returned, the witness told the court complainant one appeared “very nervous” and she and the witness left sooner after.
“She was jittery, very anxious to leave,” the witness said.
The court was shown videos from that evening of the complainant dancing around in a costume and playing guitar while she appeared “joyful”. Under cross-examination by the accused’s defence counsel, David Scully SC, the witness agreed that she couldn’t recall whether the video was taken before or after the rape allegedly occurred.
In the early hours of that morning, the witness – who was staying with complainant one – woke to her having a panic attack, the court heard. Complainant one was concerned that the tampon she had had in the night before was no longer there and she thought it may have been “lodged up inside her”.
The witness said she then accompanied complainant one to a medical clinic where she was examined, and found there was no tampon.
The court heard while the witness was under cross-examination, that about six years later complainant one told the witness that the man had raped her that evening.
Complainant one first told her then boyfriend and now husband about the incident in 2017. Appearing as a witness – one of six to appear before the court on Monday – the complainant’s husband said they had been having a conversation about the #MeToo movement in 2017 when the complainant said, “I am also a victim of that.”
“I can’t remember the exact wording but it was that she had been a victim of an assault in the years prior,” her husband told the court.
Another witness who was dating the complainant in 2020 told the court that complainant one told him she had had sex with the man while she was an intern and it was “not a good experience”. She also told him about the second incident where she alleged she was “forced” by the man to have sex with a tampon in and had “asked to remove it but she wasn’t able to”, the court heard.
The witnesses appeared before the court after the woman finished giving evidence on Monday.
Under cross-examination earlier in the day, complainant one was asked about interactions with the accused after the alleged assault, and was taken to a series of Instagram messages between the pair.
In a series of exchanges in 2018, the woman lets the accused know she will be in the same city abroad as him. He responds to the first message that he will be there, then doesn’t respond to two follow-up messages from her. He then responds to a third follow-up saying “sorry, I only just looked at my phone now”.
In one message, read to the court on Friday, complainant one proposed catching up for a pizza and a beer, because “by then I’ll need life advice again”.
In other messages, they discussed mutual friends and made arrangements to potentially meet.
Complainant one subsequently wrote to the man about a documentary made about him: “It’s a good piece, u r a good person. I’m lucky to b able to ask u questions.”
The accused replied with a love heart emoji.
Complainant one was asked about a further Instagram message where she wrote “miss you” to the accused.
“Did you miss him?” Scully asked complainant one during Friday’s cross-examination.
“Probably not.”
“Were you lying to him in the messages?”
“Don’t know.”
“Is it because these whole allegations of sexual assault are just a complete and utter fabrication?”
“No.”
Under re-examination by the crown on Monday, the woman was asked about her use of love heart emojis and “x” at the end of message to the man.
“It’s very casual,” she told the court. “I say it to everyone, I think it’s a very commonplace thing.”
The trial continues.
