Former HMAS Cerberus trainee air force chef Hayden Meurant sexually assaulted RAAF recruit
An ex-Cerberus air force chef violated a young female ADF recruit after pinning the frightened victim down at a city hotel.
South East
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A former air force trainee who sexually assaulted an RAAF recruit threatened to smack a mate’s head to the ground if they didn’t cover and lie for him.
Hayden Meurant, 26, fronted the County Court on Friday after pleading guilty to sexual assault and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Meurant, a former air force trainee chef, met his victim in Mornington in early 2019.
The victim had been a RAAF recruit when she was assaulted by Meurant at a city hotel in June 2019.
Meurant, the victim, and several other ADF members partied together in the city prior to the sexual assault.
Meurant also sent the victim Facebook messages.
“You’re so cute … OMG why do you have to be so cute,” Meurant said.
“(I’m) trying to pull you that’s about it … why can’t I just have you and show you what a real man does …”.
The ADF friends had pre-drinks at the victim’s hotel room before heading out.
Meurant later sent a Snapchat message to a friend which stated he had “just done a line of MDMA”.
A witness recalled Meurant appeared “more confident” and “a bit more intimidating than usual”.
A witness also recalled a conversation where Meurant said he “planned to get (the victim) drunk” and “have sex with her”.
The court heard two friends followed the victim back to her hotel to make sure she was safe.
However, Meurant slithered back to the victim’s room and gained entry after claiming he needed to collect belongings.
Meurant then spun the victim around, threw her onto the bed, jumped on top of her, pinned her down and sexually assaulted her.
“No, no, no,” the victim said.
“Just go with it,” Meurant said.
The fiend also attempted to undo and remove the victim’s pants but she fought back.
The victim, who “freaked out”, freed her hands, got away from Meurant and locked herself in the bathroom.
Meurant then fled the hotel.
A witness recalled Meurant appeared “very angry” or “staunch” shortly after.
Meurant later attempted to convince a witness to lie and vouch for his whereabouts during the sexual assault.
“You better back me up on this or I’ll smack your head to the ground,” Meurant said.
The victim later told a friend Meurant had “tried to rape” her.
Meurant returned to the hotel but fled again when he saw police outside the building.
Meurant, who was arrested and interviewed by police days later, also put forward his now ex-partner as an alibi.
“I had two beers … felt like shit (and) blacked out,” Meurant said.
Meurant, a father, also claimed he went to the victim’s room to get his keys.
“(I) went back upstairs and everything blurred out from there …,” Meurant said.
“Put that down, I wouldn't have assaulted her … that’s the one thing I can’t stand (assaulting women) … I’d rather sleep on the streets than take advantage of someone like that …”
The victim said, in a statement read to the court, that all she wants to do is “forget”.
“I have been through every emotion imaginable including fear and anger …,” she said.
“The day it happened changed everything … (the experience) was horrible and terrifying …”
The court heard Meurant was discharged from the air force and now works as a farmer in regional NSW town Orange.
“These sort of misogynistic attitudes are intolerable,” Judge Gerard Mullaly said.
“You can’t act this … just because you want to have sex.”
Meurant will be sentenced on April 28.
