Thomas ‘Tom’ Nicol rape trial: Court hears about ‘spooning, snuggling’ text

An alleged rapist accused of taking a drunken woman to his home and assaulting her while she was sleeping has told a touching story about the night, a prosecutor said.

However, several women who have lived with the accused man say that he is loyal and reliable and “wouldn’t hurt a fly” in the eyes of one woman.

Thomas Joseph Nicol, 33, has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman he knew at his Bondi home after a night out drinking and snorting cocaine in January 2021.

He told the jury that the couple engaged in consensual sexual touching after going to his house to find her lost phone.

But prosecutor Emilija Beljic on Wednesday drew attention to Nicol’s first explanation to the woman the day after the alleged attack.

In text messages, Nicol said the couple “spooned and cuddled” and that he slept until she woke him up.

As the woman insisted, he revealed sexual activity but said no ejaculation occurred, only to later say “maybe I blew.”

In his testimony, he admitted to ejaculating — which Ms Beljic said was a “convenient” way to explain DNA evidence.

“The accused’s version was transfigured, it changed in important ways and you can’t easily accept what he has told you,” Ms Beljic said in her closing speech.

Nicol’s evidence that the woman was not too drunk was “particularly astonishing,” as it flew into the face of friends, an unrelated witness and a doctor.

“Maybe that (drunkenness) makes her version more likely. He had to downplay it,” Ms Beljic said.

Ms Beljic said forensic evidence corroborated the woman’s story and her sobbing in court showed she was genuinely upset about the breach of trust.

The woman told the jury last week that she couldn’t remember going to his house with Nicol in an Uber and woke up when he knelt over her and touched her in bed.

She stiffened during the attack, fell asleep and caught an Uber in tears around 7 a.m., telling the curious Uber driver that she felt she had been raped.

She repeated the accusation to her roommate, and later to the police.

“Not only was this a regrettable sexual encounter, she clearly associated this as a breach of trust,” Ms Beljic said.

Defense attorney Phillip Boulten SC said the alleged victim had always been confused about what had happened, leading her to lock herself in a rape conviction.

“(They) were involved in sexual activities which, probably for both of them, were utterly deplorable, that it was messy both physically and personally, and there is a very real chance that she structured her faith after the event because she has complete regrets.” of what has happened,” said Mr Boulten in his closing speech.

The jury heard from Nicol’s former roommates who praised him.

“He’s loyal and trustworthy…I’ve never felt more comfortable with a man than with Tom,” said former roommate Hannah Hanfy.

“Tom, in all the time I’ve known him, has been trustworthy, I think he’s empathetic, I think he reads other people’s emotions and tries to help them through life,” Alice Flanagan said.

“One of the nicest people I know—he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said another woman, before saying she’d never seen him disdain a woman before.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Thursday.