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Jury to view video of rugby star Kurtley Beale, but not for highlights package

Footage from the night Wallabies star Kurtley Beale allegedly groped a woman at a pub will be played before a jury as he fights sexual assault accusations.

Jan 23, 2024, updated Jan 23, 2024
Kurtley Beale arrives at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney,. (AAP Image/Max Mason-Hubers)

Kurtley Beale arrives at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney,. (AAP Image/Max Mason-Hubers)

More than an hour of recorded CCTV from the Beach Road Hotel near Bondi Beach is expected to be played to the NSW District Court jury hearing the case on Tuesday.

The woman Beale is accused of assaulting is also expected to give evidence before the court.

She cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Beale allegedly groped and sexually assaulted the woman in December 2022.

The 35-year-old rugby union star has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

The trial is expected to sit for the next three weeks with a jury of seven women and five men empanelled on Monday expected to hear opening addresses from the prosecution and defence on Tuesday.

Crown prosecutor Jeff Tunks alleges Beale touched the woman inappropriately in a public area of the bar before non-consensual oral intercourse occurred in a cubicle in the men’s bathroom.

But Beale’s barrister Margaret Cunneen SC on Monday urged jurors to keep an open mind and decide the case on the material presented in court, saying footage from the bar might contradict parts of the complainant’s evidence.

The Waratahs and Wallabies back has made 95 appearances for Australia, as well as playing for English club Wasps and French Top 14 team Racing 92.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

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