The jury in the sexual assault trial of Jack de Belin and Callan Sinclair has retired after hearing almost four weeks of evidence.
The jurors – five men and seven women – have begun deliberating at Wollongong District Court after receiving legal instructions from Judge Andrew Haesler.
Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair are accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in a Wollongong unit in December, 2018.
They are each facing four counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count of aggravated sexual assault in company inflicting actual bodily harm.
Defence accused of overreach
The prosecution told the jurors they could rely the complainant’s version of events.
Crown prosecutor David Scully said the complainant was a young woman who was allowed to get dressed up go out and have a dance and even a kiss if she wanted to.
But at no point did she consent to either men to engage in a threesome, Mr Scully said.
He argued the complainant was unaware of the defendant’s plan to have a threesome with her and was under the impression she was travelling to another nightclub when the trio went to Mr de Belin’s cousin’s apartment.
The complainant had tears streaming down her face as she told the court that the men took turns raping her.
Mr Scully told the court Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair had created a false version of events of what had happened that night and went too far by creating an implausible story in which consent was sought at every moment.
Jury told to put morals aside
Mr de Belin’s barrister, David Campbell SC, used his closing address to remind jurors that it was their job to adjudicate on matters of criminality, not morality.
He admitted his client behaved in a way that was “morally wrong”, had cheated on his pregnant partner, and should have been more “considerate” to the complainant.
But he argued the that jury could rely on the good character of the defendant and the reliability of their evidence.
Mr Campbell, as well as Mr Sinclair’s lawyer, Craig Smith SC, told the jurors that the objective evidence presented to them, including CCTV footage and phone intercepts, supported their clients’ version of events.
Mr Campbell suggested it also contradicted the evidence provided by the complainant before and during the trial.
He pointed to multiple occasions when the alleged victim had apparently contradicted her version of events and described her testimony as evidence that could not be the foundation for proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
The defence, Mr Campbell argued, had also been put at a significant disadvantage because of the “improper” conduct of police.
He accused the lead detective in the case, Senior Constable Shawn Adams, of crafting a victim statement, and suggested the absence of any recording of his first interview with the complainant is “unbelievable”.
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