Woman called Kurtley Beale to convince him of guilt over sex assault allegations, court hears - ABC News

Kurtley Beale is accused of groping a woman at a Sydney pub.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

A woman who has accused former Wallabies player Kurtley Beale of sexual assault wrote herself notes that the purpose of a secretly-recorded phone call to him was to "convince him he is guilty", a court has heard.

Mr Beale is on trial in the NSW District Court over allegations he groped the woman and sexually assaulted her at a Bondi Beach pub in December 2022.

The 35-year-old has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

On Tuesday, the court heard a phone call between the woman and Mr Beale, which was recorded by NSW Police, about one month after the night they met at the Beach Road Hotel.

In the call, which was played to the jury, she raised the allegations and questions what made him think she was "keen" because she "kept saying no".

During her evidence, the complainant has alleged Mr Beale forced oral sex upon her in a cubicle of the male toilets of the pub and, earlier in the night, groped her buttocks while her fiance was nearby.

During cross-examination today, Mr Beale's defence counsel Margaret Cunneen SC raised five pages of handwritten notes, which the complainant had near her at the time of the call.

Confession would have avoided legal battle, court hears

Beneath an underlined heading of "purpose of call", the notes said: "Convince him he is guilty and not innocent".

The complainant agreed she wrote the notes.

"Your intention, I suggest to you, was to talk him into thinking he'd done something wrong," Ms Cunneen put to the witness.

"I disagree," she replied.

"Talk him into thinking that he's done something criminal," Ms Cunneen said.

"I disagree," the complainant replied.

The notes also said "he will be better off if he confesses".

Ms Cunneen asked how Mr Beale would have been "better off".

"Because it would have saved us all having to come here and do all of this," the complainant replied.

Ms Cunneen: "So you meant that it would be better for you if he just pleaded guilty?"

Complainant: "I think it would have been better for everyone."

Ms Cunneen: "And didn't have your allegation tested in a court?"

Complainant: "I wasn't worried about having to test my allegation, because it's true."

The court heard the notes said "act friendly and normal, I know you, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but I want to put it behind me, I'm sure we will see each other again".

Court hears Beale apologise to woman on phone

Ms Cunneen put to the complainant that she had, by that stage, already gone to the police and made criminal allegations "of a most serious kind", prompting the witness to dispute that her claims were not "allegations" but "the truth".

Judge Graham Turnbull reminded jurors that the accused is presumed innocent and that it was for the Crown to run the case, not for a witness to advocate in relation to the case.

During the call, Mr Beale told the complainant he may have "misjudged the whole scenario" and apologised multiple times.

Ms Cunneen last week said the call contained no concession from Mr Beale that he believed at any time that the woman was not consenting.

She has told the jury that the activity in the toilet was initiated by the complainant and involved no force.

The trial continues.

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2024-02-01 02:18:16Z
CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTAyLTAxL3dvbWFuLWNhbGxlZC1rdXJ0bGV5LWJlYWxlLXRvLWNvbnZpbmNlLWhpbS1vZi1ndWlsdC1jb3VydC8xMDM0MTQyOTDSAShodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTAzNDE0Mjkw

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