BIKER NEWS -- A REBELS motorcycle club member accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a party at the group’s North Hobart headq...
BIKER NEWS -- A REBELS motorcycle club member accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a party at the group’s North Hobart headquarters has told a jury the sexual contact was not only consensual, but initiated by the complainant.
Benjamin Steven Craig, 33, of Granton, has pleaded not guilty to four charges arising from an alleged incident at the Letitia St address in the early hours of October 5, 2013.
Giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Hobart, Mr Craig said he had been celebrating his 30th birthday party at the clubrooms when the complainant, a close and trusted friends of five years, texted him asking if she could attend the Friday night function.
Under questioning from defence counsel Garth Stevens, Mr Craig said he told the woman, who cannot be named, she was welcome and once she arrived the pair socialised and later played a game of 8-ball together.
Mr Craig, who told the court he had never held a leadership position with the Rebels, said he provided the complainant with just one alcoholic drink over the entire evening – a single nip of vodka which he delivered along with a bottle of water.
During the 8-ball game, Mr Craig said, his playing opponent made suggestive moves towards him which culminated in an attempt to kiss him, which he rebuffed.
About half an hour later, the woman told Mr Craig that she felt like she had a temperature and wondered aloud whether her drink had been spiked.
Mr Craig said he led the woman to an outside couch, in full view of other guests, and brought her another bottle of water and a wet towel for her forehead.
The defendant said while the woman made occasional visits to the toilet over the course of the next three hours, at no stage did she mention she had vomited.
Later, once all other guests had left the party and the woman had woken from a 45-minute sleep on a couch near the main bar, Mr Craig said she had said: “There’s no one around, do you want to have sex?”
Mr Craig said that after brief physical contact, the pair walked hand-in-hand to a backroom where they had intercourse on a couch.
Soon after they had finished, Mr Craig said the woman requested he call a cab, which he did, and the last he saw of her that night was at the front gate when the driver pulled up.
Mr Craig earlier told the court that since meeting the complainant five years ago, the pair had been in constant contact, interacting two or three times a week.
He also said that after once confiding in the woman about the state of his domestic situation, she had suggested he leave his partner and move in with her, which he said he couldn’t do.
The trial, before Justice Alan Blow, continues.
This article was first published on November 30, 2015
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