'I'm scared that because of his profile people will hate us'
A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by rugby star Kurtley Beale had concerns about telling police due to the former Wallaby’s public profile, a court has been told.
Beale, 35, is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching in the NSW District Court, following an exchange at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel in December, 2022.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges Beale touched her backside and forced her to perform oral sex in a toilet cubicle, claiming later he was “extremely pissed” and likely would not remember the incident.
The woman’s father told a hearing on Monday he saw “fear on her face” before her telling him of the allegations.
“I’m scared that because of his profile people will hate us,” the father remembered his daughter saying.
The woman expressed similar concerns over Beale’s profile to her sister, as well as a fear she would not be believed.
“People don’t generally believe what girls say or judge in their favour – especially when alcohol is involved,” the sibling recalled the woman saying.
Beale has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During a second week of hearings, the trial on Monday heard from a number of family members and friends who described the woman as being distressed and crying in the period after the alleged assault.
The woman’s future mother-in-law, who she visited in Queensland to shop for a wedding dress, gave evidence to court.
The mother-in-law said the morning after the alleged assault the woman was crying and shaking as she revealed what had happened.
While being driven to report the incident to police, the alleged victim elaborated on the claim, saying Beale forcibly put his penis in her mouth.
“Why didn’t you bite the f***ing thing?” the mother-in-law said she replied.
The woman told the mother-in-law that Beale was highly intoxicated during and in the lead-up to the alleged assault.
“He was extremely pissed,” the woman reportedly said.
“He could hardly stand up and he was pinching me on the arse all night.”
The woman also explained she didn’t tell her fiancé who was in a different section of the pub at the time and also “very drunk” for fears he would “end up in the police station”, the court was told.
A staff member at the Beach Road Hotel who was using the bathroom at the time of the alleged assault told the court on Monday he saw what he believed were a man and woman’s feet in the same cubicle.
The man said he was in the bathroom for roughly two minutes, during which he didn’t hear any sounds of a struggle or dispute from within the cubicle.
“I didn’t hear any noises the whole time,” the man said.
“Did you hear anyone say ‘no’?” Beale’s lawyer Margaret Cunneen SC asked him.
“I didn’t,” he replied.
Last week, the woman provided four days of evidence, including lengthy cross-examination by Ms Cunneen.
The barrister suggested the woman had concocted the rape allegation to gain sympathy from her fiancé and save her impending marriage when the couple’s relationship was strained.
“You have made this up for your own purposes to save the proposed marriage that you had been anticipating so excitedly,” she said.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments