- Beale has pleaded not guilty to three charges
- Was in court on Wednesday for the fourth day of the trial
- The woman who accused him of rape was cross-examined
A woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Wallabies star Kurtley Beale in the bathroom of a Bondi bar has been questioned about the state of her relationship.
Beale, 35, faces a jury trial at Sydney’s Downing Center Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two charges of sexual touching.
Police allege Mr Beale groped a woman’s buttocks at the Beach Road bar in Bondi on December 17, 2022, before forcing her to perform oral sex in a stall in the men’s toilet.
The 29-year-old woman returned to the witness box on Wednesday on the third day of evidence and for a heated cross-examination by Mr Beale’s barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC.
Ms Cunneen questioned the woman about her thinking on the night of the alleged incident, following an argument between the woman and her fiancé that morning.
‘You were starting to get quite worried about your relationship. You were desperate to try to turn the tables… your relationship was on the rocks,” Ms Cuneen said.
The woman accusing Kurtley Beale (pictured outside court on Wednesday) of rape has been subjected to heated cross-examination by the former football star’s lawyer
“You left the next morning at 9am on a flight to visit (the fiancée’s) family. You didn’t even know if you were going to see him before you went.”
Hours before arriving at the Bondi bar, the woman texted her fiancé “If you hate me then what’s the point” and “Will you even marry me?”
The pair had previously exchanged a series of short messages about their plans for the evening in which she urged her partner to come over to a friend’s house.
The woman texted her partner that afternoon: “I’d like you to come.”
He replied a few minutes later with ‘I’m busy’ and when asked again he said: ‘Where mate?’
“I wish I could see you,” the woman continued.
Her partner later responded again with “Sorry mate, see you Thursday” before accusing him of being “mean”.
When asked later that evening, and before she arrived at the bar, if she should cancel her flight for the next morning, the fiancée said, “It’s up to you, buddy. You do you.”
Lawyer Margaret Cunneen (second from left), acting for Beale (centre), questioned the woman about the state of her relationship with her fiancé just before the alleged attack
The 35-year-old (pictured playing for the Wallabies) has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching
Under cross-examination, the woman dismissed her own reports about their future marriage and her partner’s responses as the result of the couple’s drunkenness.
In her opening submission, Ms Cunneen SC told the jury the toilet act was ‘entirely consensual’ and there was no criminal touching involved.
The woman gave evidence throughout Monday and Tuesday regarding her version of events and text messages she sent to her sister and fiancé after the alleged incident.
Under cross-examination, the woman was questioned for claiming to her family that Mr Beale had followed her into the bathroom, contrary to CCTV footage.
She was also questioned about an argument she admitted having with her partner on the morning of the alleged incident, and about claims Mr Beale had tried to kiss her.
The jury was previously shown CCTV footage from the night of the alleged incident, including the four and a half minutes the pair spent in the men’s toilet.