- Beale is facing three charges stemming from an alleged attack in December 2022
- The 35-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges
- His accuser was convicted on Thursday for the second day in a row
Ahead of an explosive phone call with Wallabies star Kurtley Beale about an alleged sexual assault, his accuser wrote that the aim was to “convince him that he is guilty”, a court has been told.
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 the men’s toilet stall.
The woman raised the allegations to Mr Beale about a month later in a telephone conversation secretly recorded by police, in which Mr Beale admitted he had “bloody misjudged” the situation.
Beale’s barrister Margaret Cunneen (pictured left outside the courtroom on Thursday with the footy star, centre) questioned his accuser’s motives for the phone call recorded by police.
Five pages of handwritten notes taken by the woman before the phone call were the focus of cross-examination by Mr Beale’s barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC, on Thursday.
Ms Cunneen told the jury that the 29-year-old woman had written on the fourth page of her notes that the purpose of the call was to ‘convince him that he is guilty and not innocent’.
The woman admitted taking the notes, including further stated purposes for the call, including that ‘he (Mr Beale) would be better off if he confessed’.
Mrs Cunneen told the woman: ‘Your intention, I think, was to make him think he had done something wrong, something criminal.’
Later, Ms Cunneen added: ‘You thought it would have been better if he had pleaded guilty and not had your allegations (of sexual assault) tested in a court of law.’
During Cunneen’s questioning, the woman Beale claims sexually assaulted her and admitted taking notes to guide her through the phone call with the star.
The woman denied the suggestions, saying, “I knew it would have been difficult anyway, (but) it would have saved a lot of heartache, money and time.”
The jury was further told that the woman, who cannot be named, had written in the notes ‘behave kindly, normally’ and that she was likely to see Mr Beale again.
Under earlier cross-examination, the woman denied discrepancies between her evidence in court on Monday and in statements to police early last year.
The woman told police she had used the men’s toilets because the line was too long for the women’s toilets, and Mr Beale had followed her into the stall immediately afterwards.
Ms Cunneen instead suggested that the woman had told the jury in her evidence on Monday that Mr Beale had pushed his way in and locked the door while she was in the toilet.
The 35-year-old former Wallabies star has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching
“The reason you changed it, I explain, is to make it seem worse to Mr. Beale that he would barge in on you while you’re going to the bathroom,” she said.
The jury previously heard allegations from Ms Cunneen that the woman had used the allegations to ‘turn the tables’ in her own relationship and gain sympathy.
The woman vehemently denied the claim, as well as further suggestions from Mr Beale’s lawyer that she had consented to and was ‘in control’ of the alleged act.
Earlier this week the jury was told about the woman’s version of events and a phone call to the rugby star in which she first made the allegation of sexual assault.
During the conversation, Mr Beale admitted the pair were ‘hooked up’, before later stating the suspect’s actions were ‘non-issue’. The jury was also shown camera images.