A woman who alleges she was raped by a high-profile Sydney man has denied she is “completely making the incident up”, a court has heard.
Under cross-examination by David Scully SC, the woman was also asked about her feelings for the man, and about her statement to police that she thought she and the man were going to “be together” and that she “had an obsession with him”.
“I had love for him,” she said of her feelings for him in the first few weeks they met. Asked about the obsession, she said she felt “controlled”.
“I had hopes we would be together but then another part of me just thought I could never put up with someone who was with other people and who ignored me when they wanted to. I wanted him to change.”
The woman is the fifth complainant of six to appear before the New South Wales Downing Centre district court in a trial expected to last 10 weeks.
The man, who Guardian Australia cannot name due to a suppression order, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to 12 charges – which include six counts of rape – alleged to have occurred over a six-year period against six women on separate occasions. He is also facing a charge of threatening to distribute an intimate video of complainant five.
The crown is arguing the man had a tendency to carry out sexual conduct with usually much younger women, knowing that they did not consent or that he was reckless to their consent.
The man’s defence argues that the sex with five women who allege he raped them was consensual, “not in the circumstances alleged by the crown”, and that the complainants “admired the accused, even idolised him”.
The court heard the complainant sent “emotionally fuelled” messages to the accused after they met. Asked if the context of some of these messages was that she wanted to be with him, but he had a girlfriend, she said: “I just didn’t understand what he was doing with me if he [was] with someone else.”
On Thursday, the woman told the court she had a friendship with the man that at times was “intimate”, which involved consensual sex.
The court heard while the complainant gave evidence under questioning from the crown on Thursday that on the occasion the accused allegedly raped her, she had been at a party. After exchanging texts with the accused, he picked her up in his car and took her to his home, the court heard.
Once there, she went upstairs to his bedroom because he had a meeting downstairs. The complainant alleged he locked her in the bedroom. The man came to the room to check on her multiple times, and later the rape allegedly occurred, she said.
On Friday during cross-examination, Scully asserted a different version of events. He said the accused had not picked her up, and that she had gone to his house while intoxicated and told the accused she had had a fight with her boyfriend and was “desperate” to come inside. Scully said he then “reluctantly” let her in and told her to go upstairs and be quiet, and to get herself together and leave when she could. He also asserted there was no sexual activity “whatsoever”.
The complainant disagreed with this version of events.
“You’re just completely making it up that sex even happened on that occasion,” Scully later asked.
“I’m not making it up. It was rape, not sex,” she responded.
The complainant was also questioned on two interactions she had with the accused after the alleged rape. This included an occasion 22 days after the alleged rape when she went to his house. Asked if she was dancing and lifting her clothes to reveal her breasts, underwear and buttocks, she said “that could have happened”.
The complainant was also asked under cross-examination about a later occasion, when she travelled with another friend to Sydney to visit the accused. On Thursday, the complainant told the court they engaged in group sex during the visit, and alleged he grabbed her by the throat in anger during the same trip.
Asked whether, moments before the trip to visit the accused was arranged, she had sent a picture of her and the friend naked to him “out of the blue”, she said she had.
“You wanted to go and see the accused in Sydney didn’t you?” Scully asked.
“Yes,” she responded.
The complainant told the court under cross-examination she was unaware that a video was being taken of the group sex. She told the court she only recalled a film being taken earlier, in another room, when they were “dancing around”.
Asked by Scully if it was possible she looked at the camera and smiled before engaging in the group sex she said: “I could have done that but, I don’t remember doing that.”
Scully later put to the woman that the accused never “touched her throat”, and afterwards did not yank a necklace from her neck. Scully alleged that “all he did” was slam the door after she repeatedly said “you love me, you love me”.
She disagreed with each assertion, and said she remembered him slamming the door after she was thrown to the floor and had her necklace yanked.
“I was terrified,” she told the court.
On Thursday, the complainant told the court she had told a mutual friend at a gathering where the accused was present that he allegedly raped her.
After the accused found out, she said he threatened to use an intimate video “against” her. She said her then boyfriend went to the accused’s house to confront him.
Under cross-examination, Scully asserted she had not told the mutual friend at the gathering. Scully alleged she had instead messaged the allegations to a friend on a different occasion after she had “lost it” at the gathering out of jealousy that he had referred to another woman as his “girl”.
She disagreed and said she had raised it at the gathering.
Scully later referred to a message sent by the accused two years later as evidence that she had not raised the rape allegation with the accused.
The message from the accused said: “Remember when [your boyfriend] came over … and said you apparently told him I raped you and you wanted me to delete that film we all made … you really don’t think I raped you right?”
The woman responded to Scully’s assertion that she did “start to say things to him” about the incident the night of the gathering, where she said she also told a mutual friend.
“The accused never said anything to you about the topic of videos or that he would use them in any way,” Scully asked.
“I disagree,” she responded.
Scully then said to the complainant that she had “used” her boyfriend to try to get the videos back.
“No,” she responded.
The trial continues.
