Jack de Belin, Callan Sinclair trial: Friend says victim felt ‘gross’ after alleged rape

The friend of the woman allegedly raped by St George Illawarra star Jack De Belin has told how she took her to hospital afterwards.

A witness said her friend felt “gross and disgusted” when NRL player Jack de Belin ejaculated on her back, a court has heard.

The woman who also worked with the alleged victim in Wollongong, was questioned and cross-examined for more than an hour on Monday, as de Belin and co-accused Callan Sinclair stand trial for sexual assault.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to five counts each of aggravated sexual assault, maintaining the sex after the Santa Pub crawl on December 9, 2018, was consensual.

NRL player Jack De Belin at Wollongong Courthouse on Monday for his rape trial. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she had planned to go out with the alleged victim after work on December 8, 2018, but she finished later than expected.

She told the court her friend was not her “usual self” the following day at work.

“She was usually bubbly, mucked around ... wanted to tell stories. She was not talkative and blank. She did not seem like herself at all,” the woman told the court.

“I asked her how her night was. She said ‘I got raped last night’. I was in shock.”

The woman told the court her friend told her details of the night, including that Sinclair had left the room at one point.

“When Callan was having sex with (the woman) he said he couldnt do this to her. He then went to the bathroom...She felt gross and disgusting as (de Belin ejaculated) on her back,“ she told the court.

De Belin’s co-accused Callan Sinclair. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard

The woman took her friend to the police station to make a report and later to the hospital to be swabbed.

In cross-examination, de Belin’s barrister David Campbell SC questioned whether her recollection of events had been shaped by conversations with her friend since that date.

NSW Health DNA expert Sandra Trabuio who tested the 19-year-old woman’s clothes and genital swabs told the court de Belin’s semen was detected on a vaginal swab taken from the woman and his DNA was on an anal swab.

A “low level” of DNA from both de Belin and Sinclair was found on samples taken from the woman’s shorts. And a low level of de Belin’s DNA was found on the woman’s underwear.

The court heard both de Belin and Sinclair gave samples to police voluntarily.

WOLLONGONG, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos November 16, 2020: NRL player Jack De Belin arriving at Wollongong Courthouse for the continuing rape trial. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Ms Trabuio told the jury DNA was the easiest to detect if it came from bodily fluids like semen, saliva and blood.

“You are more likely to find DNA from those samples. If you touch someone, it’s less likely (to detect),” she said.

In cross-examination, Ms Trabuio agreed with De Belin’s barrister David Campbell SC that she was never given the woman’s red-scarf top she wore on the night or a green towel from the apartment, for testing.

De Belin‘s cousin Jack Lewis and his housemate Ryan Miller were also interviewed very briefly on Monday.

Originally published as Jack de Belin, Callan Sinclair trial: Friend says victim felt ‘gross’ after alleged rape