Alec Raymond Gage sexual assault trial at Coffs Harbour District Court

The accused Alec Gage gave evidence saying he was a little bit embarrassed and “bummed out” when another young woman rejected his kiss in the hours leading up to the alleged assault.

Evidence from the man accused of a sexual assault in 2017 has been replayed for the jury in his trial, on now at Coffs Harbour District Court.

Alec Gage is facing six charges of sexual intercourse without consent in relation to an incident, alleged to have occurred on the night of December 8, 2017, when he was 18.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The jury has already heard that a group of 18-year-olds, who had just completed high school and only recently returned from schoolies, decided to go out to the Coast Hotel on the night.

The alleged victim was the designated driver for four of her friends, including Gage.

His evidence, taken in the days following the allegations, was replayed for the jury on Tuesday, September 6.

In his evidence, Gage said the alleged victim sent him a picture of what she was planning to wear on the night and that it was the same outfit she wore at schoolies, with the message: ‘the last time I wore this we got up to no good’.

Asked to clarify what this meant, he said “the last time she wore that we ended up having sex that night”.

He said the Coast Hotel was “really quiet” so the group decided to walk the short distance down the highway to the Coffs Hotel.

There he saw a female friend and was “flirting with her a bit” and then “went to try and kiss her and she pulled her head away” and said she had a boyfriend.

Gage said he felt a little bit embarrassed and “bummed out” so he went to the toilet and that’s where he saw a friend of the woman he had tried to kiss, who told him he should apologise.

He then went back into the bar and apologised but, according to his evidence, the woman said it was “no problem”.

The jury has heard from various witnesses about the accused’s level of intoxication with one of the friends, who was also given a lift on the night by the alleged victim, using a scale from one to ten with 10 being “blackout drunk” and nine being “able to function but not remembering a single thing”.

During his evidence last week the friend said Gage was probably a “seven or eight” when they left the Coast Hotel and went to McDonald’s at the BP service centre on the south side of town.

After apologising to the woman he had tried to kiss, Gage returned to continue drinking and chatting to the alleged victim and another friend and, according to his evidence, he was “intoxicated by that time, yes”.

Gage said he and the alleged victim were kissing in a “mutual” way and flirting “on and off” and that “my hand was on her back and her hand was on my leg”.

According to his evidence they left the Coffs Hotel around 11pm and on the short walk back to the Coast Hotel he was “play fighting” and “tackling” some of his male friends.

Back at the Coast Hotel, according to his evidence, he and the alleged victim continued to kiss “for a period” and when asked to clarify this, he said they were “hooking up”.

He denied saying he wanted to hurt somebody that night. During the Crown Prosecution's opening remarks, it was alleged that Gage became aggressive and said he wanted to hit someone.

The Crown’s opening remarks also outlined a number of shocking injuries, including bites and bruises, which were alleged to have resulted from the sexual assault.

The alleged victim has given evidence stating that when she and Gage were alone in the car after dropping the other three friends off, he grabbed her by the throat and threatened to take the wheel of the car, and run them off the road, but she thought she would be safe once she got home to where her mother and partner were sleeping.

The trial continues before Judge Jonathan Priestley.