A woman allegedly raped by former NRL player Tristan Sailor woke the next morning, naked and bleeding, in a urine-soaked bed with no memory of what happened, a court has heard.
Tristan Sailor, 23, is accused of raping the woman, then 24, on the October long weekend in 2020 after a night out with mutual friends.
The son of former Wallabies and Kangaroos star Wendell Sailor, the 23-year-old played a handful of games for the St George Illawarra Dragons but was told he would not be re-signed days before the encounter.
Sailor has pleaded not guilty to two rape charges and maintains the sex was consensual.
Tristan Sailor, 23, (pictured arriving at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday) is accused of raping the woman, then 24, in October 2020 after a night out with mutual friends
The former NRL player (pictured) has pleaded not guilty to two rape charges and maintains the sex was consensual
On the opening day of the trial in the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, the prosecutor told the jury the alleged victim did not have the opportunity to consent to sex as she was asleep or unconscious.
She was so intoxicated at the time that she could not truly consent, Jeff Tunks said.
The woman and Sailor had messaged intermittently since March 2019, but had never met in person before October 3, 2020, he told the court.
After spending the evening drinking with a group of Sailor’s teammates, the pair ended up at the alleged victim’s Wolli Creek apartment with two others.
The four played another drinking game, which the crown prosecutor said turned ‘R-rated’.
‘(The complainant) will tell you that the last thing she recalls of that night is being in her unit and having sips of vodka with the accused (and their two friends),’ Mr Tunks said.
The son of former Wallabies and Kangaroos star Wendell Sailor (left) the 23-year-old (right) played a handful of games for the St George Illawarra Dragons but was not re-signed
Sailor’s barrister Richard Pontello told the jury that the woman was conscious and consenting the entire time the pair were having sex – even if she didn’t remember it
An hour-and-a-half after the men arrived, Sailor – carrying his socks and shoes – left with his friend.
The jury will hear evidence from the complainant’s friend that she then found the woman naked and lying on the floor of her bedroom, Mr Tunks said.
Asked if she was OK, the woman responded only with grunting noises, before vomiting on her friend as she was lifted into bed.
In the early hours of the next morning the alleged victim woke up, naked and lying on a urine-soiled top sheet, Mr Tunks said.
Minutes later, she texted a friend.
‘I genuinely think I was raped last night … I feel sick. My bum is bleeding and I don’t remember anything,’ she wrote, in messages that will be tendered as evidence.
On the opening day of the trial in the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, the prosecutor told the jury the alleged victim did not have the opportunity to consent to sex as she was asleep or unconscious (pictured, Sailor with his mother in October, 2020)
The woman and Sailor (pictured) had messaged intermittently since March 2019, but had never met in person before October 3, 2020, the prosecutor told the court on Wednesday
She then messaged Sailor, asking ‘what happened last night?’
After vomiting several times more, she messaged him again later that day.
‘Tristan, I don’t remember anything after the Uber to mine … I just need to know for peace of mind … did we have sex?’
Sailor responded, saying they did.
‘I pulled out and everything so that was sweet,’ he said.
‘I’m not going to tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about?’ he wrote in another text.
The jury will hear evidence from the complainant’s friend that she found the woman naked and lying on the floor of her bedroom (pictured is Sailor arriving at Downing Centre on Wednesday)
The woman text messaged the former NRL player (pictured) asking if they had sex because ‘didn’t remember anything after the Uber’ back to her house
However, Sailor’s barrister Richard Pontello told the jury that the woman was conscious and consenting the entire time the pair were having sex – even if she didn’t remember it.
The pair were clearly attracted to each other, he said, having kissed, hugged and taken selfies earlier that evening, and Sailor asked for consent before each sex act – three times in total.
‘There’s quite literally nothing more that Mr Sailor could have done to ascertain whether the complainant consented to having sex with him.’
‘To consent to intercourse at the time that it occurred, but later have no memory of it, that does not mean that you didn’t consent.’
The trial will hear from its first witness on Thursday.
