Newcastle bucks weekend rape trial: Alleged victim tells jury a harrowing account of how a drink at a pub turned into a nightmare: ‘Swarm of people around me’

One of three women who say they were raped by a groom and his friends during a money weekend has told the jury she felt a “swarm of people around me”.

The woman, who was 18 at the time of the alleged rapes, testified against her accused attackers in Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Wednesday.

Maurice Hawell, his brother Marius Hawell and their friend Andrew David have pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated sexual assault in company.

David and Maurice Hawell say the sex they had was consensual and deny having committed any acts, while Marius Hawell insists he did not participate in any sexual activity.

Their accusers cannot identify who committed which alleged act against them, but the three men are being tried together because they were involved in a joint criminal enterprise.

Maurice Howell was 27, his brother 20 and David 28 when they traveled from Sydney to Newcastle with six other men in February 2022 ahead of the elder Hawell’s wedding.

They are accused of raping three teenagers, Ms A, Ms B and Ms C, during the money weekend between Friday, February 22 and the following evening.

The group booked a three-bedroom Airbnb apartment for the occasion and on Friday evening some of them headed to the nearby Cambridge Hotel.

At the pub, one of the group, ‘Matt’, met Miss A and her 18-year-old friend Miss B, who had joined three other friends at the Hunter Street venue.

At no point is Matt accused of committing any wrongdoing. Miss A did not know the names of his friends but the Crown says he was in the pub with the Hawells and David.

Miss A, who gave her evidence via audiovisual link, had kissed Matt, who bought her a can of Smirnoff Ice Double Black vodka and citrus-flavoured soft drink.

The pair separated and Miss A took to the dance floor wearing an ecstasy cap, her second of the evening.

“I was just on the dance floor with friends, dancing, singing, having fun,” Ms A told the judges.

When Miss A next saw Matt, he was with one of his group and invited her back to their rented apartment in Parry Street.

“I said only as my friend [Miss B] can come because I don’t want to go alone,” Miss A said to Matt.

The court previously heard that Maurice Hawell asked Ms B around the same time if she wanted to return to the Airbnb.

Miss A, who had drunk a third Smirnoff on top of two cans of rum and coke before heading to Cambridge, said she left the hotel with Matt, two of his friends and Miss B.

“I started slurring my words, but I still felt like I was in control,” she told the jury.

Once inside the apartment, Miss A said Miss B went into a bedroom with a man the Crown believes was Maurice Hawell and went into another bedroom with Matt.

Miss A said she and Matt sat down on the bed and started chatting ‘just to get to know each other’, and then started kissing.

“There was foreplay and then we had sex,” she said.

Miss A said after the pair had sex, the door opened and a man believed by the Crown to be Maurice Hawell entered the room naked.

‘[The naked man] kept saying, “Can I come with you and Matt?” and “I’m a better carrot than Matt,” she said.

“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I do know I said no.”

Ms A said the man the Crown believes is Maurice Hawell put his hand on her upper left leg before Matt told him to leave.

Maurice Hawell had already had consensual sex with Miss B, who had also had consensual sex with Andrew David.

Mrs A said she found Mrs B in the kitchen and the pair went to the bathroom where they discussed feeling ‘uncomfortable’.

The two women then went into the bedroom where Miss A and Matt had previously had sex to retrieve their phones and the lights were turned off, Miss A said.

“I just felt a swarm of people around me,” she told the jury. “At first I thought Matt was in there, so I didn’t respond right away.”

Ms A said she was forced onto her back on the bed. “My shirt was undone and my skirt was pulled up,” she said.

Miss A said she was then subjected to a series of assaults by three men she could not identify, but the Crown said were the Hawell brothers and David.

“I just shouted, ‘Where’s Matt?’” she said. “I was told by several people that I am Matt.” I asked where Matt was about three or four times.

“I just felt like everyone in the room was like, ‘I’m Matt.’

Mrs. A. said that at one point Matt came into the bedroom and asked him, “Can you get your boyfriend off of me?”

‘He spoke a different language that I didn’t know to his friends. He kept asking if I was okay. I said, “Yes, I’m fine” and I asked where [Miss B] used to be.’

‘[Miss B] responded and said, “I’m here.” She was lying next to me on the bed.’

The Crown case is that Ms B was also subjected to non-consensual sexual acts by the men.

Ms A said she told Ms B to leave the apartment because it was “all weird” before encountering three naked men in the kitchen.

The two women returned to Cambridge with Matt, who they kissed on the dance floor after meeting the rest of their friends.

Miss A said she told her friends she had sex with Matt but was not assaulted by anyone.

“I just kept the whole group thing to myself,” she told the jury. “I was ashamed and ashamed of what had happened.”

Miss A said she exchanged phone numbers and Snapchat details with Matt and sent him naked photos of herself days later.

“I still wanted to get to know him,” she said. “He was still cool and funny.”

Under cross-examination by Maurice Hawell’s barrister Richard Pontello SC, Ms A said she had not gone to police until they contacted her on March 8, about two weeks after the alleged rapes.

Later that day, Miss A sent Miss B a series of text messages, including a note that read: “I thought it was funny and all, until I realized how dangerous and serious it is.”

Ms A denied telling a friend before leaving Cambridge: ‘I’m going back to these guys’ hotel, I’m going to look for a carrot.’

She also denied that Miss B had said: ‘I’m going back [Miss A] to get a carrot too’.

Ms. A agreed with Mr. Pontello that she was “excited about whatever would happen” with Matt, but said that would not include group sex with Ms. B.

She could not remember having the following conversation with a friend in Cambridge after returning from the apartment.

Friend: ‘What have you been up to?’

Mrs. A: ‘Yes, we messed up. It was really good with Matt. But it looked like an orgy. There were so many guys it was crazy.”

Mrs B: ‘Yes, it was crazy’.

When asked whether she might not have made a statement about the matter unless the police had been contacted, Ms A replied ‘Correct’.

Maurice Hawell and David are charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.

Marius Hawell is charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.

The trial before Judge Gina O’Rourke continues.