It is the defence’s case, led by Ron Mansfield KC, that sex and drugs, among other things, were part of the lifestyle the man was leading, but it was also the lifestyle of those around him. The jury has been told the man was popular and he didn’t need to ply women with drugs and alcohol to have sex with them.
The man’s wife, who was called as a Crown witness, gave testimony earlier yesterday that she knew her husband was having casual sex with other women, but she was “okay” with it as long as he didn’t form relationships with them.
The young woman, the second complainant to give evidence, took to the stand after the wife and, under questioning by Crown Solicitor Anna Pollett, told the jury she was at a house where the man was drinking alcohol.
She said when she closed the fridge door, the man appeared behind the door and gave her a shock.
He asked for a kiss and to hold her hand before grabbing her arm hard and trying to push her into a nearby room.
The young woman told the jury she tried to fight him to make him let go.
In the struggle, her heels made a noise on the floor, alerting the man’s friends who were in the house nearby.
She said he let go when they intervened and she was left a “bit shaken”.
The young woman said the man’s friends “explained that’s what [the man] was like. He has got drug addictions, that’s what he does”.
She said she was left with the feeling it was “typical” of him and she was “lucky that was all it was”.
The young woman’s mother later spoke with the man about drinking with her daughter and reminded him of her age.
The complainant told the jury she and her mother were woken a couple of weeks later to the man banging on “every window and door” at their home.
Her mother was worried and took a video on her phone as they hid in the darkened hallway. The video was played to the jury.
The trial was unable to continue today as legal arguments were being heard in chambers. The trial was not scheduled to sit tomorrow and was adjourned until Monday.
