NRL star Jack de Belin and co-accused Callan Sinclair felt ‘sick’ when they caught wind that a woman was alleging they’d raped her the night before, a jury has heard.
‘I was just in complete and utter shock,’ de Belin said when Sinclair pulled him aside on a Sunday afternoon in December 2018 to share a ‘rumour’ going around.
About 12 hours earlier, the men and a 19-year-old woman had left a bar in Wollongong and engaged in sexual activity inside a North Wollongong unit.
She soon made complaints to friends and workmates, leading to the claim spreading through friends and social media ahead of her approaching police, the Sydney District Court has heard.
NRL star Jack de Belin pictured outside the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday. He said in pre-recorded evidence he felt ‘sick’ when he and his co-accused Callan Sinclair caught wind a woman was alleging they’d raped her, a jury has heard
The St George Illawarra forward, 30, and Sinclair, 23, have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of aggravated sexual assault, saying all acts were consensual.
De Belin said the men decided to get a mate to message the woman ‘to see if it’s true or not’.
She responded along the lines of ‘what happened last night was not OK’.
‘(I felt) sick,’ de Belin said in pre-recorded evidence played to the Sydney jury on Wednesday.
The jury, hearing the trial after an earlier trial could not be concluded, also heard Sinclair’s testimony that two friends confided in him over lunch that the woman had shared her complaint with them.
‘I felt sick, I was in shock,’ Sinclair said.
Getting a friend to message the woman came from a want to ‘make sure she was OK’ and because he didn’t know what she was saying.
The Crown alleges the woman, who cannot be identified, took a taxi with the men to the unit under the misapprehension they were all headed to nearby Fever Nightclub.
Despite her protests inside the unit, the then-27-year-old de Belin was ‘determined’ to have sex with the woman and ‘was not going to take no for an answer’, crown prosecutor David Scully has said.
Pictured: Callan Sinclair outside court on Wednesday. The two men have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of aggravated sexual assault, saying all acts were consensual
The woman says she cried, went ‘dead inside’ and ‘just let it happen’, forming the view she ‘couldn’t fight back’ as the men cheered each other on.
De Belin denied any cheering occurred, saying the woman was muttering yes and was involved in decisions throughout.
‘We would just have a chat if we needed to swap positions. (We would say) ‘keen to swap’ or ‘change up’,’ he said.
‘Was there any discussion with the complainant?’ Mr Scully asked.
‘Yes … it was similar to that,’ the footballer replied.
De Belin couldn’t recall her exact words but denied the suggestion the then-teenager had ‘no say in any of this’.
De Belin outside court (left and right). He said he and Sinclair decided to get a mate to message the woman ‘to see if it’s true or not’
‘She was telling you to stop and you ignored her requests to stop. Isn’t that the case?’ Mr Scully said.
‘No,’ came the reply.
Sinclair said the woman was ‘just normal and just enjoying as we were’.
Shortly afterwards, she raised the fact of de Belin having a girlfriend, the men said.
‘I said words to the effect of ‘don’t stress it, babe, we’re on the rocks anyway, it’s complicated’,’ de Belin said.
The footballer denied saying ‘keep your mouth shut’ before the trio travelled back to the Wollongong CBD in an Uber.
While walking to Fever, the woman said she laughed and played along with the men until she was able to ‘get away’ when the men were distracted in the club line.
But Sinclair said the woman left after gently touching his elbow, telling him she had work in the morning and saying goodbye.
‘And I said see you later,’ he told the jury.
The trial continues.
