Wallabies star Kurtley Beale spent just four minutes in the bathroom of a Bondi bar before he was charged with allegedly forcing a woman into oral sex, a court has heard.

Mr Beale, 35, is facing a two-week 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 the former NSW Waratahs star forced a 28-year-old woman to have oral sex with him in the toilets of Bondi’s Beach Road bar on December 18, 2022.

The jury were shown about two hours of CCTV footage on Tuesday from the night of the alleged incident, but it heard it is just four and a half minutes that is most crucial.

In the video, Mr Beale can be seen entering the men’s bathroom nine minutes past midnight followed by the alleged victim. At 00.13, she leaves the bathroom.

The 28-year-old is then seen walking back to her partner at the main bar before Mr Beale, who leaves the bathroom at 00.15, also returns to the bar area.

In his opening submissions, Crown prosecutor Jeff Tunks told the jury the woman would give evidence Mr Beale told her outside the bathroom he “really wanted to f**k” her.

“The accused (Beale) said to her words to the effect of ‘I really want to fuck you’, to which she replied: ‘I can tell’. I expect she’ll tell you there was some physical contact form the accused,” he said.

“The woman will give evidence the accused then said words to the effect of ‘lets find a corner’, and she said words to the effect of ‘don’t be silly. I’m going to the bathroom’.”

Mr Tunks said the woman would give evidence Mr Beale proceeded to follow her into the bathroom stall, where he allegedly pleaded with her to have sex with him.

“I expect she will tell you he proceeded to remove his penis from his shorts and held it in his hands … and grabbed the back of her head and placed his penis in her mouth,” he said.

The woman is expected to give evidence she pulled away before attempting to stand up, at which point Mr Tunks said Mr Beale grabbed her hips and spun her around.

He said the woman would give evidence Mr Beale attempted to then bend her over and said words to the effect of “come on, let’s f**k”, before she left the stall.

The woman proceed to return to the main bar area where Mr Tunks said she told her partner: “Kurtley followed me into the bar and tried to kiss me”.

Mr Beale is further alleged by the woman to have earlier reached under her dress and “squeezed her bare buttocks”, which police claim is captured on the CCTV video.

In his opening submission, Mr Tunks told the jury the primary issue in the case would be whether the woman had consented to sexual activity.

Barrister Margaret Cunneen instead stated in her opening that the alleged sexual act in the bathroom was consensual, and was instigated by the woman.

“There are two sides to what may have happened in that men’s toilet, into which the complainant followed Mr Beale,” Ms Cunneen told the jury.

“What happened was not only entirely consensual but was in fact – the defence case is – was instigated by the woman … There was no force, only a mutual agreement.

“The defence case is the complainant did consent and certainly Mr Beale genuinely always believed she was consenting, especially in circumstances where she set in motion this furtive dashing to the toilet.”

Ms Cuneen told the jury the woman had laughed after the encounter before the pair returned to the main bar, and that others in the toilet at the time had “heard no distress”.

She also stated that the pair were shown on CCTV acting “like nothing happened” following the alleged act, and hugged twice before the woman departed the bar.

Speaking to the jury, Ms Cunneen urged them to consider where the complainant had “lied, or exaggerated, or embellished, or in any way misled police or other people ‘’.

Ms Cunneen told the jury the alleged offending had “occurred against the backdrop of serious disagreement” between the woman and her partner.

She also said that the court was not a “moral tribunal” and that the jury was not to decide whether Mr Beale had done “anything wrong to his wife”.

On the alleged grope, Ms Cunneen also stated: “One fleeting touch which can be found in the CCTV, in our case was not a criminal sexual touching.”

The jury were given a walkthrough of the pub during Tuesday’s hearing and are expected to be shown the CCTV footage from the night of the alleged incident.

Phone calls between Mr Beale and the woman, as well as another man, recorded by police are also expected to be played during the trial later this week.



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