Jack de Belin's defence lawyer has told a jury the footballer knew he acted in a "morally wrong" way when he cheated on his pregnant partner but that did not mean he was guilty of a crime.
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Barrister David Campbell SC outlined the reasons why his client should be found not guilty of five aggravated sexual assault charges during his closing submission in the NSW District Court trial in Wollongong.
NRL St George Dragons player De Belin, 29, and his friend Callan Sinclair, 23, stand accused of jointly raping a then 19-year-old woman in a North Wollongong apartment on December 9, 2018 following a night out at Mr Crown during the Santa Pub Crawl.
Mr Campbell finished his closing remarks by reminding the jury they were not in a "court of morals".
"During the night of this festive event, he (de Belin) clearly let his guard down," Mr Campbell said. "He conducted himself in a way that was morally wrong.
"He cheated on his partner, he knows that.
"He should have been more responsible, he knows that.
"He should have been more considerate of those he was with, including the complainant, he knows that.
"Whilst what happened is not something to be praised, it certainly does not for the reasons we have outlined, involve any criminal conduct."
Mr Campbell did suggest the woman went to the police, accusing the men of sexual assault, because she was concerned that she had been a party to de Belin cheating on his partner.
He took the jury through the woman's evidence and asked them to assess whether it was consistent, was corroborated with other objective evidence and whether it reflected the human experience and common sense.
Mr Campbell said the woman's evidence was "unreliable" and could not be used to find both men guilty.
The lawyer suggested to the jury that the woman lied when she detailed the physical interaction with de Belin at the club, saying she was not pulled into him when they first met, as the CCTV footage did not show that and Matthew Clune, who was with them at the club, denied it when he gave evidence.
Mr Campbell said the woman omitted information when she did not tell the jury about Sinclair touching her on the breasts or her making a 'v' gesture towards the men while on the dance floor.
"We would submit to you that the evidence demonstrates the falsity of essentially the entirety of her evidence as to the topic concerning her interpersonal relationships with the accused person at Mr Crown," Mr Campbell said.
"The whole fabric of her evolving story is even by this point undermined."
Mr Campbell said the woman's evidence of not being attracted to Sinclair was "inconsistent" as he said they "passionately kissed" and he gave her a piggyback.
He also claimed the woman did know the two other men she was with, Matthew Clune and Jai Field, had left to go to Fever, as they said in their evidence that she waved them goodbye.
It was suggested the woman wanted to go with Sinclair and de Belin to the apartment and her claim that she asked the men whether they were going to Fever while in the tuk-tuk was "nonsense".
Mr Campbell accused the woman of deleting messages about wanting "to get high" that she sent to a friend that night.
The woman originally claimed she sent that message following the alleged assault because she "didn't want to feel anymore" but under cross-examination she did accept that she sent that message while in the tuk-tuk.
Mr Campbell suggested the woman tried to conceal the message because it did not fit with her version of events, which included her being scared to use her phone in the tuk-tuk after de Belin allegedly threatened to chuck her phone after she tried to film him.
The lawyer went on to suggest the woman still wanted to get high after the threesome and that was what prompted her to touch Sinclair on the arm and leave the line at Fever; and not because she wanted to get away from the men.
He suggested she waited for her friend to respond with his address before she ordered an Uber, however she did decide to go home.
Mr Campbell went on to scrutinise the evidence the woman gave about the trio walking to the line at Fever after getting dropped opposite Heyday Nightclub.
He reminded the jury that the woman was seen laughing and "having a good time" while at the corner of Spotlight on CCTV footage and that was inconsistent with her claim that she was trying to get away from the men.
"She was saying she could not escape and that was clearly wrong," the lawyer said.
Mr Campbell suggested the woman sent a message to her friend, saying "those guys you saw me with just f**king abused me sexually" because she was worried that her friend had earlier seen her with Sinclair and de Belin, and the friend knew the latter had a girlfriend.
He said she may have sent the message in an attempt "stop the rumour mill" that she had been involved with de Belin cheating on his partner.
Details of inconsistencies were then detailed to the jury about what the woman said to her work managers on Sunday, December 9.
Mr Campbell reminded the jury that one manager denied the woman had told him she had been sexually abused when she recounted the events of that night but she did tell him she saw another person in the house.
Her other manager gave evidence the woman told her that she knew she was going back to an apartment, that she didn't want to but thought she would be going straight back out afterwards.
The woman denied ever seeing a roommate in the apartment when giving her evidence in court, and said she did not know the men wanted to go to an apartment.
Mr Campbell then moved onto the woman's evidence inside the Gipps Street townhouse.
The woman claimed de Belin took off her top, however Mr Campbell said the telephone intercepts corroborated de Belin's claim that she undid her own top, which he told a friend in the days following the alleged rape.
Mr Campbell returned to the topic of the roommate and said the woman made "14 falsehoods" when giving her evidence about the topic.
He said she denied seeing roommate, Troy Martin, in the apartment and that de Belin had left the room to speak to Mr Martin.
"Mr Martin said he (de Belin) left the room, Jack said he left the room. Mr Martin said they had a chat outside the bathroom area where he had gone, Mr de Belin said they had a chat in that area. Mr Sinclair said he left the room for a short time.
"The complainant has simply denied the whole event."
The lawyer also noted Detective Senior Constable Shawn Adams' conduct when investigating the case was "wrong and dishonest".
Mr Campbell claimed the lead detective "wilfully lied" about viewing privileged material, and "would be the type of person to bury notes", a claim which came because the detective did not take any notes during the woman's initial meeting with him at the police station on December 9.
Judge Andrew Haesler gave directions to the jury about the case and evidence on Wednesday afternoon, and the jury will retire to deliberate their verdict from Thursday morning.
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