Staff inside the men’s bathroom of a Sydney bar when Wallabies star Kurtley Beale allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in the cubicle have told a court what they saw.
Mr Beale, 35, is facing a jury trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.
Police allege Mr Beale groped the woman’s bottom at the Beach Road bar in Bondi on December 17, 2022, before forcing her into oral sex in a stall in the men’s bathroom.
Kitchen hand Nirmal Tamang told the jury that he had seen two pairs of feet when he entered the bathroom along with another staff member shortly after midnight.
“You thought it was a male and female because you could tell one set of shoes were like running shoes and the other were female’s heels,” Crown prosecutor Jeff Tunks said.
He added later: “You say the female’s heels were facing towards the door and that the men’s feet were facing towards the toilet seat (and) the wall.”
LISTEN to the new podcast
Court in the Act
Inside the courtroom with Tim Clarke.
Find out more
Under cross-examination, Mr Tamang said he spent about two minutes in the bathroom and he did not hear anyone say “no” or “stop”.
He went on to add that he also did not hear Mr Beale say “oh f**k off then”, as the alleged victim claimed, nor did he see any woman exit the bathroom while he was there.
A second employee who was not working at the time of the alleged incident also told the court on Monday that he did not see or hear anything “memorable” in the bathroom.
The two men, as well as a third who did not give evidence, are seen on CCTV entering and exiting the bathroom at the time of the alleged sexual assault.
The 29-year-old woman claimed in her evidence last week that Mr Beale had been “forceful” when he pleaded for sex before barging in on her in the bathroom stall.
She later reported the matter to NSW Police who arranged a secretly recorded phone conversation the following month when she put the allegations to Mr Beale.
Senior Constable Christina Tesoriero told the jury on Tuesday that she had helped set up the call, known as a pretext call, but was not present when it was made.
She said she also did not see notes made by the woman before the call in which the jury were told the woman wrote “convince him he’s guilty and not innocent”.
During her evidence, Constable Tesoriero described the flow of the investigation following the woman’s first report to police in December 2022.
She told the jury that people who were present in the bar at the time of the alleged incident were contacted to give statements, a number of whom declined.
Mr Beale’s lawyer, Margaret Cunneen, previously argued that the alleged act was consensual and the woman had made the complaint to gain “sympathy” from her fiance.
Friends and family of the alleged victim gave evidence on Monday about the woman’s state of mind after the night as well as an argument with her fiance.
The trial will continue on Tuesday when Ms Cunneen is expected to question Constable Tesoriero in cross-examination.