Newcastle Airbnb bucks night rape trial: Court hears of groom’s ‘fanciful’ tale after he was accused of gang rape

A man accused of raping three teenagers at an Airbnb during his bachelor party gave a “fantastical” account of the sexual encounters that was “not credible”, a court has been told.

Andrew David, 30, and brothers Maurice Hawell, 30, and Marius Hawell, 22, have pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault in company, attempted aggravated sexual assault in company and aggravated sexual touching.

The men were celebrating Maurice’s upcoming wedding with a stag party in Newcastle over the weekend of February 2022, when they allegedly sexually assaulted three women.

Prosecutors say the trio attacked two 18-year-old women on Friday night and a 19-year-old woman the following night.

Maurice and Mr David deny that there were any non-consensual sexual acts, while Marius claims he was not involved in the sexual incidents during the stag party weekend.

The trio had been on trial in the New South Wales District Court for weeks over the alleged joint criminal enterprise.

In his closing statement on Monday, prosecutor Craig Evans said the jury should disregard the “fantastic” evidence Maurice presented during the trial.

“It’s not credible. It’s not credible. It’s not consistent,” he said.

In his account of Saturday night, Maurice said he approached a 19-year-old woman on the street and that she agreed to have sex with him before they entered the Airbnb.

Evans said the evidence was “completely inconsistent with the evidence at the time”, including CCTV footage and text messages the woman had sent to a friend saying she was “in danger and needed help”.

The night before, the court was told that Maurice had used a false name when he invited an 18-year-old to the Airbnb he had rented for his bachelor party.

The pair had consensual sex before Maurice began bullying the teenager into allowing Mr David to join them, Mr Evans said. Maurice’s insistence showed his “proclivity for threesomes or group sex”, the prosecutor said.

He told the jury that the 18-year-old girl eventually said yes and performed consensual sexual acts on Mr David, but that she then had to push him away because he would not listen to her requests to stop biting her nipple.

Mr David has not been charged with the biting, but Mr Evans said it was a reflection of his state of mind before the alleged rape.

In his plea to the jury on Monday, the prosecutor said the circumstances of Friday night proved the women did not consent.

Maurice Hawell, his younger brother Marius and seven other men stayed at the Airbnb apartment and visited a nearby pub where they met a number of women and took them to the three-bedroom apartment, the jury heard earlier.

Two of the women agreed to return to the unit, where consensual sex took place with Maurice Hawell, David and another man who has not been charged, the jury heard.

The two women then discussed leaving, before going to get their phones from a dark bedroom, the jury was told.

When they entered the room, they were reportedly pushed onto the bed, stripped naked and forced to have sex with at least three men.

One of the women said during her testimony that she felt like there was a “swarm of people” around her, but she could not identify anyone.

“The way they come into the room, it’s dark,” Mr Evans said.

‘The circumstances prove that there was no consent.’

According to the statement of one of the women, her clothing was removed while the men penetrated her orally and vaginally.

“(The alleged victim) doesn’t know who wants to have sex with her and she doesn’t consent,” Evans said.

She couldn’t see.

“If they didn’t know she wasn’t consenting, they were at the very least reckless with her consent.”

It was impossible to describe exactly who performed which sexual act because the room was dark. However, prosecutors allege that the three men had a joint criminal agreement to rape and sexually assault the women.

A third alleged victim was brought into the apartment the following night after Maurice Hawell followed her down the street from the bar and grabbed her hand as she arrived at his door, Mr Evans said.

After agreeing to go for a drink at the apartment, the woman was led into a dark bedroom, where she was raped by Maurice Hawell and David, who took turns changing sexual positions.

Halfway through the hearing, Marius Hawell entered the room and watched, Evans told the court.

Each of the men has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges, including sexual intercourse without consent, sexual contact without consent and attempted sexual contact without consent.

The process continues.