Omar El-Sayed: Belmore rape accused seeks permission to work
The solicitor for a man charged with gang rape has alleged in court the complainant googled “how to run an orgy” before the incident at a southwest Sydney unit, as he sought to vary his client’s bail.
The Express
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The solicitor for one of four men charged over an alleged gang rape has claimed in court phone analysis reveals the complainant googled “how to run an orgy” in the days before the incident at a Belmore unit as he sought to vary his client’s bail.
Omar El-Sayed has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and two counts of sexual intercourse without consent after police allege he, Adam Kabbout, Rami Katlan and Mohammed Ali sexually assaulted her at a Belmore unit in April last year.
A court has previously heard police will allege Ali had met the woman on Tinder months earlier and invited her over, before the other three men arrived while she was in the shower.
All four have pleaded not guilty to their respective charges and are set for a joint trial at Sydney District Court to commence on July 29 next year.
El-Sayed appeared at the same court on October 25 to apply for a bail variation which would allow him to leave his address outside his curfew in order to work for his brother’s kitchen fit-out business.
El-Sayed had only been allowed to leave the house between 9pm and 5am if he was in his wife’s company.
In making the application, El-Sayed’s solicitor Eidan Havas made surprising allegations about what police have so far uncovered in their investigation.
“It’s a strong prosecution case, the issue will be consent,” Mr Havas told the court.
“(The Crown alleged fact document) doesn’t reveal that (the complainant) had searches come up on her Cellebrite (phone analysis), searches for ‘how to run an orgy’.
Mr Havas also questioned why someone who was conscious they had done something wrong would leave a condom in the bathroom at the scene.
The Crown opposed the bail variation entirely, citing concerns about community safety, but said certain conditions should be imposed to strengthen the proposition if it was accepted by Judge Warwick Hunt.
Mr Havas said El-Sayed could be accompanied at all times by his brother, and report his shift times and locations to the officer in charge of the case each week.
It was also highlighted in court on this occasion that El-Sayed had turned himself into police when he became aware he was under investigation, participated in an interview, and had not been accused of breaching his strict bail conditions at any time since they were imposed.
Judge Hunt granted the variation which permits El-Sayed to work outside of his curfew hours as long as he is in the company of his brother and updates police weekly on his shift times and locations.
Kabbout has pleaded not guilty to six counts of aggravated sexual assault in company.
Katlan has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault in company, two of sexual intercourse without consent, and one of intentionally recording an intimate image without consent.
Ali has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and two of sexual intercourse without consent.
The trial is expected to take four weeks.
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