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What may be the final report befoe the jury report.
de Bellend's lawyers are going for the old "look past the fact that our client is a dirtbag and focus on the charge at hand" strategy, which is probably his best hope I guess.
NRL star Jack de Belin was ‘morally wrong’ to cheat on partner
NRL star Jack de Belin’s lawyers have admitted in court he was ‘morally wrong’ to cheat on his partner but denied he sexually assaulted a woman.
Steve Zemek
NCA NewsWireNOVEMBER 25, 20202:51PM
Lawyers for Jack de Belin have admitted that the NRL star was “morally wrong” when he cheated on his then pregnant partner but denied he sexually assaulted a woman, a court has heard.
The three-and-a-half week trial of Mr de Belin, 29, and his co-accused Callan Sinclair, 23, is set to conclude on Wednesday afternoon, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict.
During his closing addresses, Mr de Belin’s barrister David Campbell SC conceded that the St George Illawarra back-rower failed himself on several accounts, including that he should have been more respectful to the complainant.
Judge Andrew Haesler will address the jury on Wednesday afternoon before they consider whether Mr de Belin, 29, and his accused Callan Sinclair, 23, are guilty of five counts of aggravated sexual assault.
The woman, who was then 19, has claimed that she was raped vaginally, anally and orally by the two men in a North Wollongong unit in the early hours of December 9, 2018.
However, both men have claimed that all sex was consensual and she agreed to a threesome.
During police phone taps that were played to the court during the trial, Mr de Belin was heard confessing to his sister that the episode was a “wake-up call”.
Mr Campbell told the Wollongong District Court on Wednesday that Mr de Belin conducted himself in a manner that was “morally wrong” but said that had no bearing on the allegations.
“He knows that he cheated on his partner, he knows that,” Mr Campbell said.
“He should have been more responsible – he knows that.
“He should have been more respectful – he knows that.
“He should have been more considerate of those he was with including the complainant – he knows that.
“He should not have allowed things to progress to the point they did. In hindsight, he knows that. His family knows that. You know that.”
Jack de Belin has denied sexually assaulting a woman inside a North Wollongong apartment. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.Source:News Corp Australia
Mr Campbell also accused the woman, who cannot be named, of deleting text messages concerning plans to do drugs that she sent to a male friend on the morning of the alleged sexual assault.
He told the court that the messages were not on her phone when it was perused by police on the afternoon of December 9, 2018.
They were only discovered after the man gave a statement to police several days before the start of the trial.
In the messages, she told the man “when do you want to get high” after he had earlier messaged her about smoking cannabis.
Initially, she stated during her testimony that she had sent the message after the alleged sexual assault.
But she was later forced to admit that she had texted the man earlier in the morning while she was taking a tuktuk ride to the Gipps Street apartment with Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair.
The defence said it shaped as an important piece of evidence because she initially said that during the tuktuk ride she was unable to use her phone because Mr Sinclair had grabbed her around the waist to restrict her movement and Mr de Belin had told her not to use her phone.
“The irresistible inference is that before the police had access to her telephone she had deleted messages from (the man) from her phone,” Mr Campbell said.
“She well knew about the conversations she had and that’s why she deleted them.
“It was an active act to try to conceal from the police, from the prosecution, from the defence and most importantly from (the jury) what she had been up to that night.”
Callan Sinclair has denied sexually assaulting a woman alongside NRL star Jack de Belin. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.Source:News Corp Australia
Mr Campbell also described the actions of the former lead investigator Detective Senior Constable Shawn Adams, as “dishonest” and “unbelievable”.
During his testimony, Constable Adams was forced to admit that he wilfully lied during pre-trial legal arguments earlier in the year regarding accessing privileged legal information on Mr de Belin’s phone.
While crown prosecutor David Scully described Constable Adams’s admission as a “red herring”, Mr Campbell on Wednesday told the court he had also tried to conceal other evidence.
He said Constable Adams had failed to record his initial conversation with the complainant on December 9, 2018.
“His conduct was not only improper, in our submission it was also dishonest,” Mr Campbell said.
“His answer as to not remembering whether he made any recording in the room is simply unbelievable.
“He well knew that whatever was said in that room differed, and differed in material respects, from the end product that he and he alone generated from the complainant.”
de Bellend's lawyers are going for the old "look past the fact that our client is a dirtbag and focus on the charge at hand" strategy, which is probably his best hope I guess.
NRL star Jack de Belin was ‘morally wrong’ to cheat on partner
NRL star Jack de Belin’s lawyers have admitted in court he was ‘morally wrong’ to cheat on his partner but denied he sexually assaulted a woman.
Steve Zemek
NCA NewsWireNOVEMBER 25, 20202:51PM
Lawyers for Jack de Belin have admitted that the NRL star was “morally wrong” when he cheated on his then pregnant partner but denied he sexually assaulted a woman, a court has heard.
The three-and-a-half week trial of Mr de Belin, 29, and his co-accused Callan Sinclair, 23, is set to conclude on Wednesday afternoon, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict.
During his closing addresses, Mr de Belin’s barrister David Campbell SC conceded that the St George Illawarra back-rower failed himself on several accounts, including that he should have been more respectful to the complainant.
Judge Andrew Haesler will address the jury on Wednesday afternoon before they consider whether Mr de Belin, 29, and his accused Callan Sinclair, 23, are guilty of five counts of aggravated sexual assault.
The woman, who was then 19, has claimed that she was raped vaginally, anally and orally by the two men in a North Wollongong unit in the early hours of December 9, 2018.
However, both men have claimed that all sex was consensual and she agreed to a threesome.
During police phone taps that were played to the court during the trial, Mr de Belin was heard confessing to his sister that the episode was a “wake-up call”.
Mr Campbell told the Wollongong District Court on Wednesday that Mr de Belin conducted himself in a manner that was “morally wrong” but said that had no bearing on the allegations.
“He knows that he cheated on his partner, he knows that,” Mr Campbell said.
“He should have been more responsible – he knows that.
“He should have been more respectful – he knows that.
“He should have been more considerate of those he was with including the complainant – he knows that.
“He should not have allowed things to progress to the point they did. In hindsight, he knows that. His family knows that. You know that.”
Jack de Belin has denied sexually assaulting a woman inside a North Wollongong apartment. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.Source:News Corp Australia
Mr Campbell also accused the woman, who cannot be named, of deleting text messages concerning plans to do drugs that she sent to a male friend on the morning of the alleged sexual assault.
He told the court that the messages were not on her phone when it was perused by police on the afternoon of December 9, 2018.
They were only discovered after the man gave a statement to police several days before the start of the trial.
In the messages, she told the man “when do you want to get high” after he had earlier messaged her about smoking cannabis.
Initially, she stated during her testimony that she had sent the message after the alleged sexual assault.
But she was later forced to admit that she had texted the man earlier in the morning while she was taking a tuktuk ride to the Gipps Street apartment with Mr de Belin and Mr Sinclair.
The defence said it shaped as an important piece of evidence because she initially said that during the tuktuk ride she was unable to use her phone because Mr Sinclair had grabbed her around the waist to restrict her movement and Mr de Belin had told her not to use her phone.
“The irresistible inference is that before the police had access to her telephone she had deleted messages from (the man) from her phone,” Mr Campbell said.
“She well knew about the conversations she had and that’s why she deleted them.
“It was an active act to try to conceal from the police, from the prosecution, from the defence and most importantly from (the jury) what she had been up to that night.”
Callan Sinclair has denied sexually assaulting a woman alongside NRL star Jack de Belin. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.Source:News Corp Australia
Mr Campbell also described the actions of the former lead investigator Detective Senior Constable Shawn Adams, as “dishonest” and “unbelievable”.
During his testimony, Constable Adams was forced to admit that he wilfully lied during pre-trial legal arguments earlier in the year regarding accessing privileged legal information on Mr de Belin’s phone.
While crown prosecutor David Scully described Constable Adams’s admission as a “red herring”, Mr Campbell on Wednesday told the court he had also tried to conceal other evidence.
He said Constable Adams had failed to record his initial conversation with the complainant on December 9, 2018.
“His conduct was not only improper, in our submission it was also dishonest,” Mr Campbell said.
“His answer as to not remembering whether he made any recording in the room is simply unbelievable.
“He well knew that whatever was said in that room differed, and differed in material respects, from the end product that he and he alone generated from the complainant.”