New footage shows the moment a Sri Lankan cricket star and a woman were walking around Sydney hours before he accused him of sexually assaulting her at her home.
International cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka faces a judge-alone trial at Downing Center District Court after pleading not guilty to a charge of sexual assault without consent.
The charge relates to an incident on November 2 last year, in which the 32-year-old allegedly removed a condom while having sex – known as stealth theft – with a woman at her in eastern Sydney.
The two first met at the Opera Bar, near the Sydney Opera House, where CCTV footage shows them kissing as they meet, before having drinks together in the city and to return to the woman’s home by ferry.
CCTV played by the court shows the moment the pair meet and kiss at the Opera bar before heading to nearby Frankie’s Pizza for dinner.
Cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka is seen in CCTV footage on a ferry with the woman who later accused him of sexual assault.
The footage shows the couple hugging and kissing for 15 minutes before boarding the ferry to the woman’s home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The footage then shows the couple returning to Circular Quay where they hug and kiss for 15 minutes before boarding the ferry to the woman’s home in the eastern suburbs.
The footage shows the couple cuddling on the dock, while Mr Gunathilaka films the Sydney skyline from the water before hugging the woman from behind.
The woman told the court during her evidence that Mr Gunathilaka “slapped her butt forcefully” while he was on the ferry, but said it happened in an area of the boat which was out of reach. view of the cameras.
Mr Gunathilaka was arrested in the early hours of November 6 at the Hyatt Regency, where the Sri Lankan cricket team was staying at the time for the T20 World Cup.
He was then taken to Day Street police station where he answered questions for more than two hours.
The cricket star (pictured, centre, outside Sydney court) has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault without consent.
Gunathilaka is accused of “stealthing”, that is, removing a condom during or just before sexual intercourse without the partner’s knowledge.
The recorded interview was played before Judge Sarah Huggett during the trial on Wednesday, showing the cricketer becoming emotional as he spoke about a spiritual conversation he had with the alleged victim.
Mr Gunathilaka told police the two men had sex before they started talking, with the woman saying she had the power to “see the future”.
“She has a different power, I don’t know what you call them… I was so interested in these things because I’m a Buddhist,” he said in the interview before starting to cry .
“We were talking about religious things…she can see into a past life and we discussed that sort of thing.”
Mr Gunathilaka told police he asked the woman to tell him about her past life and she told him they were neighbors in Thailand.
The cricketer told police he had been scared and ‘had a feeling’ the woman was ‘a bit weird’, prompting him to tell the woman he wanted go home. She ordered him a taxi.
The last message Mr Gunathilaka sent to the woman was ‘Thank you’ after she provided him with the messagee taxi details.
“I didn’t message her and she didn’t message me either,” Mr Gunathilaka told police.
Cricket star told police sex between men was consensual
“That’s it, then I’m here.”
Mr Gunathilaka told police the sex between the two men was consensual and that he had not brought condoms with him because he did not think there was a chance of it happening.
However, Detective Sergeant Laura Beecroft of the Sex Crimes Squad told the court that Mr Gunathilaka’s Burberry satchel which he carried at night was searched and two condoms were found in wrappers.
The cricketer was asked if at any point he put his penis “inside her without a condom”.
“No, no, definitely not,” Mr. Gunathilaka replied.
However, Mr Gunathilaka admitted telling police he preferred to have sex without a condom, but denied saying he did not want to use one when they met.
He said: “I just said ‘I don’t normally like to have sex with a condom’, I didn’t say ‘I don’t want to have sex without a condom’.”
Character witnesses on behalf of Mr. Gunathilaka appeared in court to tell Judge Huggett that he was a man of good character and would never disrespect a woman.
Mr Gunathilaka’s sister, ex-girlfriend and a long-time friend all told the court he had always been respectful, caring and gentle.
Earlier today, the court heard the woman first reported the matter to Constable Katrina Lackerdis at Rose Bay police station. She told the court she did not have her police notebook with her so had written notes on scraps of paper.
“I remember the (alleged) victim telling me that shortly afterwards the accused aggressively kissed, pushed, slapped and bit her,” she told the court.
Officer Lackerdis told the court she then sent photos of her notes to another officer who would investigate the matter.
The officer was questioned by Mr Gunathilaka’s lawyer, Murugan Thangaraj SC, who asked whether she agreed it was “important” for the conversation to be recorded.
“You recorded those notes on pieces of paper, didn’t you… you threw them away, didn’t you?” » said Mr. Thangaraj.
Officer Lackerdis told the court: “I shouldn’t have, but I did. »
She told the court she probably threw the notes away at the end of her shift.
Mr Thangaraj continued to pressure the officer: “You were responsible for carrying out duties at the station… which includes answering the telephone… which includes receiving complaints from the public, including serious complaints.
Character witnesses on behalf of Mr Gunathilaka appeared in court to tell Judge Huggett that he was a man of good character and would never disrespect a woman.
“Police procedure requires that you take appropriate notes. »
Officer Lackerdis said she used what she had in front of her because her “priority” was to take accurate and contemporaneous notes.
Mr Thangaraj asked whether the police officer had told the alleged victim that she had been sexually assaulted.
“She told me she had been sexually assaulted, and then I got a version of what happened,” Officer Lackerdis said.
On Tuesday, messages between the alleged victim and her friends were read out in court. The alleged victim described how Mr Gunathilaka allegedly “changed” when they began having sex.
The main issue in the trial is Mr Gunathilaka’s state of mind, whether he removed the condom without the woman’s knowledge.
Mr Thangaraj told the court his client denied having non-consensual and unprotected sex with the woman because he had no option to remove the condom.
Meanwhile, the Crown alleges the woman only consented to protected sex.
The trial continues before Judge Huggett.