Jack de Belin, Callan Sinclair trial: Alleged victim ‘didn’t struggle’
A former St George Illawarra teammate of Jack De Belin has told a trial that the ex-NSW State of Origin star spoke to him the day after he learned of a rape accusation against him.
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The day after Jack de Belin learnt he was being accused of rape he told a teammate at St George Illawarra Dragons training “there was no sign of her saying no”, a court was told.
The District Court trial of former State of Origin star de Belin, 29, and his friend Callan Sinclair, 23, heard evidence from former Dragons player Jai Field on Tuesday.
The men have each pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault and maintain the sex which took place after a pub crawl on December 9, 2018, was consensual.
Mr Field recently signed with English club Wigan Warriors but was in the Dragons team at the time of the alleged sexual assault in December 2018.
Mr Field told police de Belin spoke to him about the allegations at Monday morning training around 8am.
A part of his police statement read out in court said de Belin told Mr Field “she took her top off” and “there was no sign of her saying no”.
Mr Field also told the court how he and friend Matthew Clune peeled away from de Belin, Sinclair and the young woman to attend another club at the end of the pub crawl.
“I asked Jack if he was going to come to Fever and he said he was staying,” Mr Field said.
He said Sinclair also decided to stay with de Belin and the other woman.
The trial also heard evidence from Gary Poort, the driver of a bike-taxi who ferried de Belin, Sinclair and the woman to the North Wollongong apartment where the alleged abuse took place.
Mr Poort said he remembers the woman’s reaction to de Belin telling her at the end of the journey that they were going up a hill to an apartment.
“I heard distinctly what she said … ‘like f***’,” he told the court.
Mr Poort said when he asked during the journey where the group wanted to go, de Belin replied “you’ll have to trust me”.
The alleged victim has previously give evidence she got in the bike-taxi believing she was going to Fever nightclub before de Belin redirected the driver.
Mr Clune also gave evidence in the trial before Judge Andrew Haesler on Tuesday, explaining how Sinclair called him in disbelief at discovering the woman was accusing the two footballers of raping her.
“He was obviously just, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing,” Mr Clune told the court.
Crown prosecutor David Scully SC read the court a message exchange between Mr Clune and Sinclair which took place in the hours and days after the allegations were made.
“I could maybe try to message her” Mr Clune wrote to Sinclair.
“Let me know when she messages back,” Sinclair said.
Mr Clune wrote to the alleged victim “Hey … heard some talk about last night, everything OK?”
“I’m not OK, what happened last night was not OK,” the woman replied.
Mr Clune wrote in the following days “so suss how she went back to Fever with yous”.
In another message he said “that’s it, you can’t claim you’ve been raped and not even struggle or anything and then go back into town”.
Mr Clune, who was called as a prosecution witness, said he could not recall what details Sinclair told him about what happened.
“We’re good mates, we would have talked about what happened … his side of the story,” he said.
“But I can’t remember exact details.”
Mr Clune had been with de Belin and Sinclair earlier on the night of the alleged assault.
The alleged victim gave evidence last week that Mr Clune had asked her at the Mr Crown nightclub if she would go home with him earlier that night.
She said she responded “No because you have a girlfriend”.
Mr Clune, who today said he had since broken up with his girlfriend, denied he asked the woman to go home with him.
“Not true at all,” he said.
Mr Clune was asked about events leading up to his group running into the alleged victim at the Mr Crown nightclub late on December 8.
He said he began drinking around midday at the home of St George Illawarra Dragons player Euan Aitkin where de Belin and Sinclair arrived at some stage. The group moved to the North Wollongong Hotel a few hours later.
Mr Clune said he arrived, drunk but in control of himself, at Mr Crown around 11pm and joined de Belin and Sinclair on the upstairs dancefloor. There he saw the alleged victim in the crowd, who he had met previously, and said hello.
He told the court he later noticed the woman dancing with and kissing Sinclair.
“Just a fun intimate kiss that you always see at a nightclub. A pash,” he said.
He said he could not recall any physical contact between the woman and de Belin on the dancefloor.
The court heard Mr Clune left Mr Crown with the woman, de Belin and Sinclair, and the group walked to the bottom of Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall where they stopped and began chatting.
Mr Clune and Mr Field began walking off towards Fever nightclub while de Belin, Sinclair and the woman stayed there a matter of seconds before getting in the bike-taxi.
Mr Clune said he could not recall exactly what was said about where the respective parties intended to go next.
“It felt clear to us that they were staying where they were,” Mr Clune said.
“I can’t recall exactly what was said.”
Mr Clune was asked if the alleged victim responded when he and his friend waved goodbye.
“Yeah she said see yuz later,” he said.
De Belin, Sinclair and the woman then rode past Mr Clune and his friend in the bike taxi which dropped the trio near the North Wollongong unit.
“We sort of just waved at each other,” Mr Clune said.
The trial continues.
ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM “SUSS”: DE BELIN’S FRIEND
A close friend of Callan Sinclair described the actions of an alleged rape victim as “so suss” and said she did not “even struggle”, the District Court trial of Sinclair and NRL player Jack de Belin heard today.
Sinclair’s close mate Matthew Clune, a Wollongong teacher and tennis coach, has told the trial how Sinclair called him in disbelief at discovering the woman was accusing the two footballers of raping her.
Crown prosecutor David Scully SC read the court a message exchange between Mr Clune and Sinclair which took place in the days after the allegations were made.
Mr Clune wrote “so suss how she went back to Fever with yous”.
In another message he said “that’s it, you can’t claim you’ve been raped and not even struggle or anything and then go back into town”.
De Belin, 29, and Sinclair, 23, have each pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault.
They maintain the sex they had with the woman in a North Wollongong unit on December 9, 2018, was consensual.
She told the court the men took turns assaulting her as she cried and went emotionally “dead and numb”.
Mr Clune said Sinclair called him around 3pm on December 9 after learning through a friend the woman was making rape allegations.
“He was obviously just, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing,” Mr Clune told the court today.
After the phone call Mr Clune told Sinclair in a message “I could maybe try to message her”.
“Let me know when she messages back,” Sinclair wrote.
Mr Clune wrote to the alleged victim, “Hey … heard some talk about last night, everything OK?”
“I’m not OK, what happened last night was not OK,” the woman replied.
Mr Clune, who was called as a prosecution witness, said he could not recall what details Sinclair told him about what happened.
“We’re good mates, we would have talked about what happened … his side of the story,” he said.
“But I can’t remember exact details.”
Mr Clune had been with de Belin and Sinclair earlier on the night of the alleged assault.
The alleged victim gave evidence last week that Mr Clune had asked her that night at the Mr Crown nightclub if she would go home with him.
She said she responded “No because you have a girlfriend”.
Mr Clune, who today said he had since broken up with his girlfriend, denied he asked the woman to go home with him.
“Not true at all,” he said.
Mr Clune was asked about events leading up to his group running into the alleged victim at the Mr Crown late on December 8.
He said he began drinking around midday at the home of St George Illawarra Dragons player Euan Aitkin where de Belin and Sinclair arrived at some stage. The group moved to the North Wollongong Hotel a few hours later.
Mr Clune said he arrived, drunk but in control of himself, at Mr Crown around 11pm and joined de Belin and Sinclair on the upstairs dance floor. There he saw the alleged victim in the crowd, who he had met previously, and said hello.
He later noticed the woman dancing with and “pashing” Sinclair.
“Just a fun intimate kiss that you always see at a nightclub. A pash,” he said.
He said he could not recall any physical contact between the woman and de Belin on the dance floor.
Mr Clune left Mr Crown with the woman, de Belin and Sinclair, and the group walked to the bottom of Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall where they stopped and began chatting.
Mr Clune and another friend began walking off towards Fever nightclub while de Belin, Sinclair and the woman stayed there a matter of seconds before getting in a bike-taxi.
Mr Clune said he could not recall exactly what was said about where the respective parties intended to go next.
“It felt clear to us that they were staying where they were,” Mr Clune said.
“I can’t recall exactly what was said.”
Mr Clune was asked if the alleged victim responded when he and his friend waved goodbye.
“Yeah she said see yuz later,” he said.
De Belin, Sinclair and the woman then rode past Mr Clune and his friend in the bike taxi which dropped the trio near the North Wollongong unit.
“We sort of just waved at each other,” Mr Clune said.
The trial continues before Judge Andrew Haesler.
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Originally published as Jack de Belin, Callan Sinclair trial: Alleged victim ‘didn’t struggle’