Alleged victim of Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka grilled over intimate acts

A Sydney woman has said an international cricket star “turned into an animal” as she alleges he tricked her into unprotected sex.

A Sydney woman who went on a Tinder date with Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has broken down in court as she gave evidence that “something switched” and he “turned into an animal” when they started having sex.

The international cricket star is facing a judge alone trial at the Downing Centre District Court after pleading not guilty to one charge of sexual assault without consent.

The charge relates to an incident on November 2 last year where it is alleged Mr Gunathilaka removed a condom while having sex with a woman at her eastern suburbs home, known as stealthing.

The pair first met at Opera Bar, where CCTV footage shows them embracing as they meet, before having drinks together at the city and heading back to the woman’s home via ferry.

In her final moments of giving evidence on Tuesday via audiovisual link, the woman broke into tears as she told the court: “I was fearful for my life when he was choking me, and so I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible”.

Crown Prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman told the court the woman had messaged a friend in the days following the incident saying “something bad” had happened.

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka is facing a trial over an alleged sexual assault. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

“You’re probably going to tell me I did all the wrong things...he seemed really lovely when we met...when we started having sex it was like something switched in him and he was really rough,” one of the messages said, the court was told.

While on the phone to another friend in the days following the incident, Ms Steedman told the court the alleged victim said Mr Gunathilaka became “aggressive”.

“He was on top of me, I couldn’t breathe at all at some points... it was like he turned into an animal and a different person when we went into the bedroom,” the woman told her friend, Ms Steedman told the court.

“I felt forced…who does that, who forces someone... I was scared for my life.”

DEFENCE ARGUMENTS

Earlier in the day, the alleged victim was grilled by the cricketer’s barrister, Murugan Thangaraj SC, about the intimate moment.

The woman on Monday said Mr Gunathilaka tried to persuade her not to use a condom. But Mr Thangaraj insisted that wasn’t the case.

“He never said he did not want to wear a condom that night,” the barrister said on Tuesday.

“He never tried to persuade you to have unprotected sex.”

The alleged victim replied: “That is not correct”.

Mr Thangaraj pressed the women about her police statement, telling the court she wrote that Mr Gunathilaka had “one hand choking” her, while the other was “on the bed”.

He told the court the statement said Mr Gunathilaka then began to slap the woman’s buttocks.

He arrived at court on Tuesday with his supporters. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Monique Harmer

“You agree he couldn’t have removed a condom while he was choking or slapping your buttocks,” he put to the woman.

He continued to grill the woman, saying his client would not have had any opportunity to take the condom off, as her statement said the sex “continued for about 10-15 minutes” in the same manner.

But the woman says there was opportunity for him to remove the condom, which she later saw was on the floor next to the bed.

“You don’t describe him throwing a condom or anything else do you,” Mr Thangaraj asked the woman.

“At no point did Mr Gunathilaka have unprotected penile and vaginal sex with you.”

The woman said this statement was “not correct” and was insistent Mr Gunathilaka had “taken the condom off and thrown it on the floor”.

The woman conceded to Mr Thangaraj that she could have gone home alone at any point in the night, but suggested the pair continue to drink at her house.

The cricketer denies the alleged stealthing. NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

She earlier told the court Mr Gunathilaka had kissed her “forcefully” as they waited for a ferry, and also “slapped her buttocks quite hard.

When they arrived back at her house, the woman said she poured two glasses of wine before Mr Gunathilaka “pushed her back onto the couch” and forcefully kissed her again.

Mr Thangaraj questioned why the woman led the cricketer into her bedroom and lit candles.

“Your decision to lead him into the bedroom was a perfectly natural progression of the evening, wasn’t it?” the barrister asked.

“A tinder date, with pre planned drinks at your place after days of flirting, playing guitar, drinking wine, candles being lit by you in the bedroom, it was a perfectly natural movement from the lounge room to the bedroom.”

The woman disagreed with the suggestion.

The main issue in the trial is Mr Gunathilaka’s state of mind as to whether or not he removed the condom without the woman’s knowledge.

Ms Steedman told the court the woman had consented to protected sex.

The trial continues before Judge Huggett.