By Sarah McPhee
Wallabies star Kurtley Beale says he is glad “the truth has come out” after a jury found him not guilty of sexual offences against a woman at a Bondi pub.
Beale, 35, was accused of groping a 28-year-old woman’s bottom in the bar of the Beach Road Hotel on December 17, 2022, forcing her to perform oral sex in a cubicle of the men’s bathrooms and grabbing her hips. The defence argued the sexual act inside the cubicle was consensual.
Kurtley Beale was all smiles as he walked from court after his acquittal.Credit: Nick Moir
The rugby union fullback pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching. He faced a 12-day trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about an hour on Friday afternoon before returning with verdicts of not guilty to all charges.
Beale’s wife, Maddi Beale, broke down in tears upon the verdicts and was later embraced by her husband, who put his head in his hands as he was acquitted. Beale’s barrister, Margaret Cunneen, SC, told Judge Graham Turnbull her client would be making an application for costs.
Beale walked from the court hand-in-hand with his wife and flanked by lawyers and supporters.
“I’ve always maintained my innocence,” he said. “My family and I have suffered a terrible year, and I’m so glad that the truth has come out.”
Cunneen added: “Justice was certainly done, and swiftly.”
Night captured on CCTV
Footage from inside the pub was central to each case. Crown prosecutor Jeff Tunks submitted that the grope was caught on CCTV, telling the jury that Beale’s hand could be seen moving from the small of the woman’s back to her bottom, touching bare skin, as she stood opposite her fiance in the main bar.
The Beach Road Hotel in Bondi.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Cunneen said the woman had her mouth “wide open with laughter” about a minute later. She said Beale “always thought there was full consent” on what was a “physically demonstrative” night involving people hugging and kissing as they socialised.
She argued the woman was “flirting” with Beale, including grabbing the cap off his head. The woman said she had shown Beale an Instagram screenshot of his wedding suit as it was inspiration for her own nuptials. She denied telling Beale he looked “hot” in the photograph.
The woman claimed Beale called out “Oi” and grabbed her shoulders as she walked towards the bathroom, allegedly repeating “I really want to f--- you” in a “desperate” and forceful tone.
“I kept saying, ‘We can’t, you’re married, I’m engaged, I don’t want to,’” the woman said.
She told her sister and future mother-in-law that Beale followed her into the bathroom. The officer-in-charge of the investigation conceded in cross-examination the complainant’s memory of that was incorrect. The CCTV showed Beale entering the bathroom, followed by the woman, who then exited after about four-and-a-half minutes.
The woman said she was “busting” and left the door ajar, claiming Beale came into the cubicle and locked it, dropped his pants, pulled her head, forced himself on her and spun her around by the hips.
The defence argued the woman “instigated” the sexual activity and was “in control”.
Secret recordings
The woman confronted Beale with her allegations in a lengthy recorded call from 5.22pm on January 19, 2023, during which he recalled they “hooked up”, repeatedly apologised, said he had “totally misjudged” the situation and asked whether she was going to take it further.
Cunneen said: “Not anywhere in that call does he concede or agree that on the night he thought she wasn’t consenting. As he says, ‘I thought it was on’.”
A second call was recorded from Beale to his manager Isaac Moses at 6.18pm that same day, when he said he had “messed up” and that a “bird” had phoned him to say she did not consent to oral sex.
“I’m like, f---, OK. Just trying to recollect everything,” Beale said.
Moses asked: “Kurtley, I’ll bet you she did consent otherwise that wouldn’t have happened. True, yes?”
“That’s what I thought,” Beale replied.
The court heard the woman, in notes prepared for the call, described its purpose as to “convince him he is guilty and not innocent” and “he will be better off if he confesses”.
The court heard Beale was drunk that night, but this was not a focus of the trial as the prosecutor said his intoxication was not relevant to the consideration of consent. The woman gave evidence she had 12 drinks and two “small lines” of cocaine over the afternoon and evening.
A forensic toxicologist determined the woman had “used a bit more cocaine than average”, as it was detected in her system more than 24 hours later.
A married man, and an engaged woman
In her opening address, Cunneen noted Beale was a married man, but it was not a “moral tribunal”.
Maddi and Kurtley Beale outside court during a break on Friday.Credit: Nick Moir
His mother-in-law, Julie Blomberg, gave character evidence that Beale had “made a mistake” and resolved “the issue of hurt” with his wife.
“I don’t think for a minute that Kurtley would assault someone,” Blomberg said. “We believed him when he said that it was consensual.”
The woman said, after leaving the bathroom, she told her fiance Beale had tried to kiss her. She said she “kept it high level as to not cause a scene”. The fiance said the next morning the complainant was “bawling her eyes out” and would not tell him what was wrong.
The defence argued the woman’s allegations arose during an ongoing disagreement with her fiance, stemming from one week earlier. Cunneen labelled the woman “manipulative” and said she had thrown Beale “under the proverbial bus” to salvage her relationship and get sympathy from others.
The costs hearing has been listed on April 5.