A FRIEND of the woman who claims she was raped and choked by a stranger in an alleyway off King Street during a night out in 2022 says he saw injuries to her neck that "looked like she had been strangled", a jury has heard.
The woman spent the better part of the last two days giving evidence in Newcastle District Court during the trial of her alleged attacker, Jack Milner, 21, who has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and inflict actual bodily harm.
The woman had been refused entry to Finnegan's Hotel and separated from her friends on the night of November 25, 2022 before walking down King Street and crossing paths with Mr Milner.
The woman wanted to get into Finnegan's through a back entrance and the pair can be seen on CCTV walking down a laneway beside Foghorn Brewery and climbing a fence.
What happened next occurs off camera; the woman claims she was choked and sexually assaulted, while lawyers for Mr Milner say there was no sexual assault and the woman initiated contact, kissing Mr Milner before making up the attack to avoid getting in trouble for trying to sneak into the pub.
During her evidence, the woman said she was "terrified" and "in shock" and claims her attacker licked her neck and tore her underwear off before sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors said the woman managed to wrestle free and ran through the alleyway before staff from Foghorn Brewery came to her aid.
CCTV footage shows the pair emerge from the alleyway and prosecutors claim the woman was crying and yelling, something to the effect of, "get away from me, stay away from me", while Mr Milner replied something similar to: "Hey, we were both kissing. We both wanted that."
The woman is ushered into Foghorn Brewery by staff, while Mr Milner walks, then jogs away.
The woman contacted a number of her friends and told one: "someone tried to attack me and rape me down an alleyway. I had to fight them off and kick them."
One of those friends gave evidence on Wednesday, telling the jury he received a number of missed calls from the woman and left Finnegan's to help her, finding her outside and "very upset and emotional".
"She told us that she had been attacked and I believe her words were raped," the woman's friend said.
"She said she had been attacked down an alleyway and she had to fight her way out of it."
The woman's friend said he later saw she had injuries to her neck, back and shoulder blade.
"It looked as though she had been strangled or choked," the friend said.
The trial continues.
