The woman who has accused rugby player Kurtley Beale of rape has refuted claims made by his lawyer that she willingly went into a men’s bathroom cubicle with him on the night of the alleged attack.

In December 2022, Beale, who is 35 years old, is facing charges in the NSW district court for one instance of sexual intercourse without consent and two instances of sexual touching at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel. He is currently on trial for these charges.

The ex-Wallabies player has entered a not guilty plea for all the allegations.

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On Wednesday, during the third day of testimony, Beale’s lawyer, Margaret Cunneen SC, questioned the woman who claims that Beale touched her buttocks and coerced her into performing oral sex in a restroom stall.

On the third day of her testimony, the woman, who is not legally allowed to be named, tearfully refuted the claim that the sexual act was consensual. She also denied intentionally inviting Beale into the men’s bathroom stall in order to get her fiance’s attention.

The court observed CCTV footage which depicted the woman reuniting with her fiance at another location in the venue and kissing him right after the reported attack.

In the video, Beale approaches the woman and joins the conversation with the couple shortly thereafter. The woman briefly makes physical contact with Beale’s arm and shoulder and hugs him as the couple prepares to depart.

“If Mr. Beale had truly sexually assaulted you and you were attempting to avoid causing a disturbance, you would simply say goodbye and depart,” Cunneen stated.

The reason you embraced him a few times was because there were no negative incidents between you and Mr. Beale.

The woman responded, “I do not agree.”

Cunneen probed the woman’s relationship with her fiance at the time, describing it as being in a “very precarious position” following an argument between the pair earlier in the day.

The court was presented with text messages that described the disagreement where the woman expressed to her future husband, among other things, “You are being unkind”.

Cunneen said that you believed your fiancé was treating you unfairly.

You must have thought, “I’ll show him,” didn’t you?

The woman strongly denied the claims, stating that Beale had entered the cubicle with her and accusing him of forcefully placing his penis in her mouth.

The woman testified that Beale had followed her into the cubicle, but she could not recall who had followed whom into the men’s restroom.

She stated that she often utilizes men’s restrooms during nights out to bypass lengthy lines at the women’s restrooms.

“I simply choose the one with the shortest line,” the woman stated.

I used to not pay attention to the designated gender of a restroom.

“I do now.”

Cunneen stated that the woman had displayed a friendly and physically affectionate behavior towards multiple men at the bar on the night of the reported incident.

She accused you of embracing, kissing, and caressing every man you encountered.

The woman responded with a differing opinion.

Cunneen implied that the woman was behaving in a flirtatious manner with several male acquaintances she interacted with during the evening.

The woman responded, “I had many acquaintances present that evening, but Mr. Beale is not one of them.”

Cunneen reminded you that you had expressed a desire to be friends with Mr. Beale.

The woman responded that she rejected his sexual advances.

The trial continues.

Source: theguardian.com