Court hears groom’s ‘fanciful’ story after he was accused of gang rape

• Three men charged with sexual assault during stag weekend

A man accused of raping three teenagers on his stag do in an Airbnb gave a “fanciful” account of the sexual encounters that was “not credible”, a court was told.

Andrew David, 30, and brothers Maurice Hawell, 30, and Marius Hawell, 22, have pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated sexual assault in company, attempted aggravated sexual assault in company and aggravated sexual touching.

The men were celebrating Maurice’s upcoming wedding with a stag party in Newcastle one weekend in February 2022 when they allegedly sexually harassed three women.

Prosecutors allege that the trio attacked two 18-year-old women on Friday night and a 19-year-old woman the following night.

Maurice and Mr. David deny that the sexual activities took place without their consent, while Marius claims he was not involved in any of the sexual incidents during the stag weekend.

The trio faces a trial lasting several weeks in the District Court of New South Wales on charges of allegedly forming a joint criminal association.

In his closing argument on Monday, prosecutor Craig Evans said the jury should ignore the “fanciful” evidence Maurice presented during the trial.

“That is not credible. That is not credible. That is not conclusive,” he said.

In his account of Saturday night, Maurice said he approached a 19-year-old woman on the street and she agreed to have sex with him before they entered the Airbnb.

Mr Evans said the evidence was “completely at odds with contemporary evidence”, including CCTV footage and text messages the woman sent to a friend saying she was “in danger and needed help”.

The previous evening, the court was informed that Maurice had used a false name to invite an 18-year-old girl to the Airbnb he had rented for his bachelor party.

The pair had consensual sex before Maurice began pressuring the teenager to allow Mr David to join in, Mr Evans said. Maurice’s insistence showed his “propensity for threesomes or group sex”, the prosecutor said.

He told the jury that the 18-year-old eventually said yes and had consensual sex with Mr David, but then had to push him away because he did not comply with her request to stop nibbling on her nipple.

No charges were brought against Mr David in connection with the biting, but Mr Evans said it demonstrated his state of mind before the alleged rape.

On Monday, the prosecutor told the jury in his closing argument that the circumstances of Friday evening proved that the women had not consented.

Maurice Hawell, his younger brother Marius and seven other men stayed at the Airbnb and visited a nearby pub, where they met several women and invited them to come and stay with them in the three-bedroom apartment, the jury previously heard.

Two of the women agreed to return to the unit, where they had consensual sex with Maurice Hawell, David and another man who was not charged, the jury heard.

The two women then discussed their departure and then took their phones out of a darkened bedroom, the jury was told.

When they entered the room, they were allegedly pushed onto the bed, stripped naked and forced to have sex with at least three men.

One of the women described during her testimony that she felt like she was surrounded by a “swarm of people” none of whom she could identify.

“The way they are led into the room – it’s dark,” Mr Evans said.

“The circumstances demonstrate that there was no consent.”

According to one of the women, her clothes were removed while the men subjected her to oral and vaginal violence.

“(The alleged victim) does not know who is trying to have sexual intercourse with her and she is not consenting,” Evans said.

“She couldn’t see anything.”

“If they did not know that she did not consent, then at least they were reckless with her consent.”

Because the room was dark, it was not possible to describe exactly who had performed which sexual act. However, the public prosecutor’s office assumes that the three men, together with others, had committed themselves to raping and sexually touching the women.

A third alleged victim was brought to the apartment the following night after Maurice Hawell followed her down the street from the bar and grabbed her hand as she reached his door, Mr Evans said.

After agreeing to go into the apartment for a drink, the woman said she was led into a dark bedroom where she was raped by Maurice Hawell and David, who took turns swapping sexual positions.

In the middle of it all, Marius Hawell came into the room and watched, Mr Evans told the court.

Each of the men has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges, including sexual intercourse without consent, sexual touching without consent and attempted sexual touching without consent.

The process continues.