Kurtley Beale’s alleged rape victim has been accused of concocting the sexual assault to gain sympathy from her fiance as a two-week trial draws to a close.
The rugby star’s lawyer, Margaret Cunneen SC, began her closing address on Thursday before the jury retires to consider its decision.
Beale, 35, is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two of sexual touching in the NSW District Court, following an incident at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel in December 2022.
The woman, who cannot be legally identified, claims Beale touched her backside and forced her to perform oral sex in a toilet cubicle.
“Ladies and gentleman, I don’t shrink from suggesting to you that (the alleged victim) is a manipulative woman who curated the circumstances of the night,” Cunneen told the jury.
“To turn the table, to turn herself into a victim and to become someone who everyone had to feel sorry for and support.”
During the trial, Cunneen probed text messages between the woman and her fiance about a dispute they were having at the time of the incident.
Both the woman and her fiance have played down their exchange as normal, despite admitting it was to do with trust and may have been the lowest point in their relationship.
Cunneen told the jury that when someone claimed to have been sexually assaulted, those closest to them were highly unlikely to question it.
“You don’t doubt them, you don’t cross-examine them, you don’t say, ‘well what were you doing?’ or anything like that, you just accept it,” she said.
“We know that that’s what people must do.”
Cunneen spoke at length about a phone call between the woman and Beale that was recorded by police without his knowledge and played during the trial.
In the call, Beale apologises to the woman, telling her he “misread” the situation.
According to the defence version, Beale’s apology was not for having raped the woman but out of concern for her and his possible misunderstanding of the situation.
Cunneen told the jury they had to be satisfied of several elements for the offences to be proven, including that a sex act occurred and that it was non-consensual.
“There’s a third element just as important as the first two,” she said.
“Knowing that the alleged victim had not consented.”
The defence closing submissions are continuing.
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