TRIGGER WARNING. sexual abuse/rape.
WOMAN DENIES TAKING COCAINE BEFORE RAPE
A fashion designer has denied using cocaine and performing oral sex on a man accused of raping her in an exclusive Sydney nightclub.
The woman, who is in her 30s, was visibly distraught in the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday as she described how a man she had never met followed her into a cubicle and sexually penetrated her from behind as he held her face against a wall.
She was giving evidence at the committal hearing of Christopher Scott Corben, 31, who is charged with aggravated sexual assault without consent over the alleged incident in October 2009.
Under cross-examination from Corben's defence lawyer Winston Terracini, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied a suggestion she had used cocaine during her night at the Ivy Bar Nightclub in the city centre.
"No, I did not," she said, adding she was tipsy after consuming vodka sodas.
Asked if she had previously had memory loss when she was tipsy, the woman replied: "Yes, I have."
Mr Terracini accused the woman of putting on a ruse with her inability to recall what the man in the cubicle looked like, or whether or not he was naked.
"It's a cock-and-bull story," he said. "If you were tipsy you would not lose your memory."
The woman also denied a suggestion from Mr Terracini that she had consensually performed fellatio on Mr Corben in the cubicle.
[FUCK'S SAKE, EVEN IF SHE HAD - HE STILL HAS NO RIGHT TO GODDAMN RAPE HER.]
"Absolutely not," she said.
The defence maintains the woman and the accused walked down the stairs together into the unisex toilet area.
They produced video footage showing the woman dancing with the man earlier that evening, and another image which Mr Terracini suggested was of them holding hands as they walked down the stairs to the toilets.
But prosecutor Fiona Rowbotham insisted the woman walked down the stairs alone, with the man following her from a distance before he pushed his way into the cubicle.
She also cited evidence from Dr Kim Chen, who noticed a blue bruise on her right inner elbow and abrasions on her right shoulder during an examination after the incident.
Ms Rowbotham conceded the woman's memory before and after the incident might have been hazy, but she argued that the woman sobered up during the assault as she feared for her safety.
Under cross-examination from Mr Terracini, the woman was unsure if, after she had emerged from the cubicle, she told fashion designer Michael Azzollini she had been raped.
"I can't believe I said that to Michael Azzollini," she said.
"I can't remember who I said it to.
"I was definitely 100 per cent saying, `I was raped, I was raped'."
The woman was also adamant that she kept her boots on during the ordeal but says she had her eyes closed for much of the attack.
Late in the day, Mr Corben asked to have his bail conditions varied so he could travel to Germany between July 1 and 30 to attend a family friend's wedding in Hamburg.
But magistrate Caleb Franklin declined to make a decision on whether to let the accused have his passport temporarily returned by police for a $10,000 surety.
Decisions regarding the passport and whether to let the matter go to trial have been deferred until June 30.
The title alone of this fucking story... My teeth hurt just reading it from all the rage.
A fashion designer has denied using cocaine and performing oral sex on a man accused of raping her in an exclusive Sydney nightclub.
The woman, who is in her 30s, was visibly distraught in the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday as she described how a man she had never met followed her into a cubicle and sexually penetrated her from behind as he held her face against a wall.
She was giving evidence at the committal hearing of Christopher Scott Corben, 31, who is charged with aggravated sexual assault without consent over the alleged incident in October 2009.
Under cross-examination from Corben's defence lawyer Winston Terracini, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied a suggestion she had used cocaine during her night at the Ivy Bar Nightclub in the city centre.
"No, I did not," she said, adding she was tipsy after consuming vodka sodas.
Asked if she had previously had memory loss when she was tipsy, the woman replied: "Yes, I have."
Mr Terracini accused the woman of putting on a ruse with her inability to recall what the man in the cubicle looked like, or whether or not he was naked.
"It's a cock-and-bull story," he said. "If you were tipsy you would not lose your memory."
The woman also denied a suggestion from Mr Terracini that she had consensually performed fellatio on Mr Corben in the cubicle.
[FUCK'S SAKE, EVEN IF SHE HAD - HE STILL HAS NO RIGHT TO GODDAMN RAPE HER.]
"Absolutely not," she said.
The defence maintains the woman and the accused walked down the stairs together into the unisex toilet area.
They produced video footage showing the woman dancing with the man earlier that evening, and another image which Mr Terracini suggested was of them holding hands as they walked down the stairs to the toilets.
But prosecutor Fiona Rowbotham insisted the woman walked down the stairs alone, with the man following her from a distance before he pushed his way into the cubicle.
She also cited evidence from Dr Kim Chen, who noticed a blue bruise on her right inner elbow and abrasions on her right shoulder during an examination after the incident.
Ms Rowbotham conceded the woman's memory before and after the incident might have been hazy, but she argued that the woman sobered up during the assault as she feared for her safety.
Under cross-examination from Mr Terracini, the woman was unsure if, after she had emerged from the cubicle, she told fashion designer Michael Azzollini she had been raped.
"I can't believe I said that to Michael Azzollini," she said.
"I can't remember who I said it to.
"I was definitely 100 per cent saying, `I was raped, I was raped'."
The woman was also adamant that she kept her boots on during the ordeal but says she had her eyes closed for much of the attack.
Late in the day, Mr Corben asked to have his bail conditions varied so he could travel to Germany between July 1 and 30 to attend a family friend's wedding in Hamburg.
But magistrate Caleb Franklin declined to make a decision on whether to let the accused have his passport temporarily returned by police for a $10,000 surety.
Decisions regarding the passport and whether to let the matter go to trial have been deferred until June 30.
The title alone of this fucking story... My teeth hurt just reading it from all the rage.