CCTV focus as NRL players appeal assaulting woman
Convicted NRL players Zane Musgrove and Liam Coleman are appealing after a court found them guilty of assaulting a woman on a dancefloor and grainy CCTV images will be central to the case.
Police & Courts
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NRL players Zane Musgrove and Liam Coleman are fighting to overturn convictions for assaulting a woman on a Sydney dance floor.
Grainy black and white CCTV will be central to convincing a higher court whether the court’s guilty verdict should stand or if the men should be cleared.
Musgrove and Coleman were captured on security cameras speaking and dancing with two women at the Coogee Bay Hotel in November 2018.
Musgrove allegedly kissed one 23-year-old woman and touched her breast while Coleman, the son of South Sydney great Craig Coleman, allegedly grabbed the woman’s breasts on the same night.
She complained to security guards and her friends before talking to her mother and the police became involved, the NSW District Court heard on Monday.
The sportsmen were ultimately convicted of assault with an act of indecency in October last year and put on 12 month good behaviour bonds.
But the events on camera are still the cause of a “major dispute” between police and the footy players, the District Court heard on the first day of the appeal.
“The (alleged victim) really is the fulcrum of the prosecution,” Coleman’s barrister Philip Boulten SC said on Monday.
“No one else saw the touching of the breast. The videotape doesn’t depict the event which is the subject of the charge. A lot will depend on what your honour makes of the CCTV footage.”
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Mr Boulten said the alleged assault wasn’t caught on camera because it didn’t happen - he anticipated police would argue it was obstructed in the video.
He said the evidence could not satisfy a court, beyond a reasonable doubt, that his client was guilty.
The court heard Musgrove’s defence would be similar but his barrister, Phillip English, would also argue the Tigers player was incorrectly convicted because the magistrate took evidence from a second charge into account.
Musgrove was acquitted of a second charge and a third charge against him was withdrawn.
The police prosecutor took the court through the footage frame-by-frame on Monday afternoon pointing out where, he said, Musgrove appeared to put his arm around Coleman and the alleged victim’s neck before kissing her.
The prosecutor drew the judges attention to where each player had their arms, alleging the vision showed Coleman’s hands on the woman’s behind.
The hearing continues.