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Posted: 2024-01-31 04:53:46

A woman who has accused Kurtley Beale of sexual assault has denied suggestions from the former Wallaby's lawyer that she was "enjoying his company" and being "flirtatious" on the night they met at a Sydney pub.

The complainant has returned to the witness box for a third day, after telling a jury in the NSW District Court about the night she met Mr Beale in December 2022.

The 29-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, alleges Mr Beale groped her buttocks at Bondi's Beach Road Hotel, when her fiance was nearby.

She has told the court Mr Beale followed her into a cubicle of the male toilets, where she refused his request for oral sex before an alleged sexual assault.

Kurtley Beale walks hand in hand with his partner

Kurtley Beale outside court with his partner.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

Mr Beale, 35, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

His lawyers have told jurors the sexual activity in the toilet was initiated by the woman.

The complainant previously told jurors that when she first spoke with Mr Beale, she told him she liked the suits in his wedding photographs, which she had seen on Instagram.

'You told him he was hot'

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Margaret Cunneen SC, the woman on Wednesday denied that she had told Mr Beale she liked the way he looked in his suit.

"You told him he was hot, didn't you … and that's what you believed," Ms Cunneen said.

"No, no offence," the woman replied.

"And you're just answering that way because you think it supports the false allegations you've made against Mr Beale," Ms Cunneen continued.

"I disagree," the complainant replied.

She denied Ms Cunneen's suggestions she was "enjoying his company that night" and "seeking it out, looking for him when he wasn't there".

The jury has seen CCTV showing various interactions between Mr Beale and the complainant in the pub.

Ms Cunneen raised one interaction where the woman took a cap off Mr Beale's head, suggesting she also rubbed down his face and cheeks when she returned it.

"Oh, absolutely not," the complainant said.

"You were being flirtatious, taking that liberty with him, weren't you?"

The woman denied the suggestion.

Complainant denies relationship problems with fiancé

The complainant has also faced many questions about the broader context of the evening, including an argument with her fiance, which she said involved several situations in their relationship.

She has denied suggestions from Ms Cunneen she was "worried" about the relationship and that it was "going down the gurgler".

The court heard at one point in the night before she met up with her fiance at the pub, she texted him: "Do you still want to marry me?"

"I mean we say it all the time … it's not that serious," the woman said of that message.

Ms Cunneen put to the witness that later, at the pub, she suggested that she and Mr Beale "duck off into the men's".

"Absolutely not," she replied.

Ms Cunneen suggested the complainant told Mr Beale to go into the bathroom first to see if anyone else was in there.

"It was your idea to get Mr Beale in that toilet cubicle, wasn't it?" Ms Cunneen said.

"No," the complainant replied.

Ms Cunneen: "You thought your fiance was being unfair with you that night, didn't you?"

The complainant replied: "No."

Ms Cunneen: "And you thought to yourself, 'I'll show him', didn't you?"

The complainant: "Absolutely not."

Through tears, the complainant also rejected suggestions she instigated oral sex in the cubicle and that there was no question of Mr Beale getting consent from her.

The trial, before Judge Graham Turnbull, continues.

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