Nathan Burmeister: sexual assault trial begins in District Court
A jury has heard a woman was left with intimate injuries after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and held by the throat by a man she had just met at a Sydney pub. The local rugby player has strenuously denied the charges.
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A court has heard a suburban rugby union player allegedly grabbed a woman he had only just met by the throat, shoved his hand down her bra and then sexually assaulted her in a suburban street after a night out at a Sydney pub.
On the first day of the trial a jury heard an overview of the police case against Nathan Burmeister, 28, who is charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of sexual touching and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.
At Downing Centre District Court, the Crown prosecutor said police would allege Burmeister used his fingers to repeatedly penetrate a woman he had met at the Peakhurst Inn on August 31 last year, leaving her with minor injuries to her vagina and her throat.
Burmeister has pleaded not guilty to all charges and the court heard he would deny any sexual impropriety had occurred.
“The woman went to St George Hospital and during this examination there were some injuries noted,” the Crown prosecutor told the court.
“In particular, one injury was a 1.1cm abrasion on the lower right end of the vaginal wall.”
The Crown prosecutor told the jury it would be alleged Burmeister put two fingers inside the woman’s vagina without her consent three times, and on a fourth occasion allegedly put three or four fingers inside her as he held her from behind around the throat.
On one occasion the prosecution will allege he also grabbed her right breast beneath her bra and placed her hand on his penis without her consent.
At the time the pair was walking down Morts Rd in Mortdale after they left the woman’s friend’s house in an attempt to get an Uber to their respective homes.
“He had his back against a wall and pulled her aggressively towards him by the neck,” the Crown prosecutor told the jury.
“After he moved his hand away from her breast he placed it down her jeans and again inserted fingers, three or four, into her vagina – it was hurting and the other hand was tight around her throat.”
The Crown prosecutor said he expected the woman would allege to the jury she felt Burmeister’s fingernails were sharp, and that she was dizzy and struggling to breathe at times.
Burmeister’s barrister said certain facts were not in dispute – including that Burmeister and the woman had met for the first time at the Peakhurst Inn and that they had consensually kissed on the couch at the friend’s home.
“There’s no dispute that they left (the friend’s) house together, during which the woman ordered an Uber, and there’s no dispute that there was a kiss,” the barrister told the jury.
“The circumstances in which that came about are in dispute.”
Burmeister’s barrister said his client completely denied all allegations of sexual impropriety.
“We deny any sexual intercourse with the complainant – we deny any unlawful sexual touching, and we deny assaulting the complainant and causing actual bodily harm,” the barrister told the jury.
“The defence case is that there was some consensual kissing and touching at the friend’s house, and a kiss outside, and that’s it.”
The evidence to be heard by the jury will include a 51-minute police interview with Burmeister on the night in question after his arrest, text messages, Facebook messages and DNA evidence which will be explained to the jury by a forensic biologist.
The trial continues.