source : the age
Warning: Graphic content
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second day of Alan Jones’ lengthy criminal trial on charges of indecent assault and sexual touching. Our reporters Clare Sibthorpe and Jacqueline Maley will be bringing you the latest from the courtroom today.
On day one, the NSW Local Court in Sydney’s historic Downing Centre court complex heard allegations that Jones indecently assaulted a young athlete, starting with unwanted kissing when the man was a teenager in year 12 in the early 2000s. Jones denies the claims.
The man, now in his early 40s, gave evidence that Jones also groped him in the car as he drove the then-radio host to his Fitzroy Falls property. He said he was fearful at the time of speaking out because he didn’t want to “lose everything”.
Jones had supported the promising athlete financially, including paying him hundreds of dollars a week to focus on training and giving him a car and a mobile phone, the court heard.
Today, the man known as complainant “J” returns to the witness box. He will face cross-examination by Jones’ barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC, after completing his evidence-in-chief.
The Crown alleges Jones indecently assaulted or sexually touched six men between 2003 and 2020 and is seeking to prove 22 charges against him, including nine indecent assault charges against “J”.
The former broadcaster has emphatically denied wrongdoing and Bashir said on Monday that the credibility and reliability of the complainants’ evidence would be tested.
“Rivalry, treachery, double-dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more are all at the heart of this case,” Bashir said in her opening remarks to Judge Glenn Walsh.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
Defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC, is now taking complainant “J” to his reporting of his allegations to police.
After asking about which detectives he first spoke to and when, Bashir progressed to asking him about other personal details.
The alleged victim’s identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons. We will update you when the argument has moved on and we can bring you further details from the court.
Bashir has taken complainant “J” to more articles about allegations against Jones before the broadcaster’s November 2024 arrest. This is how part of the interaction went:
Bashir: “This is someone you had spent years of your life interacting with … There were newspaper reports in December 2023 about allegations similar to yours.”
Complainant J: “I agree with that.”
Bashir: “You didn’t read or notice [the news] at all?”
Complainant J: “No, I didn’t… I was trying to distance myself.”
The cross-examination of complainant “J” by defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC, is under way.
She’s pressing him on the media coverage he had consumed about Jones’ allegations before he went to police. Earlier today, “J” testified that he made a report to police after seeing news headlines about Jones’ arrest in late 2024.
Bashir asked if, prior to news of Jones’ arrest in November 2024, “J” saw major articles from The Sydney Morning Herald and other news reports regarding the allegations against Jones.
The complainant responded that he did not know if he “watched” them, but he had heard about them.
The trial has resumed after the lunch break. Gabrielle Bashir, SC, Alan Jones’ lead barrister, has started cross-examining the first witness in the case, known as complainant “J”.
Warning: Graphic content
The court has adjourned for lunch and will return at 2pm.
Complainant “J” ended his evidence-in-chief by telling the court that he came forward to police decades after he was allegedly indecently assaulted by Jones as a young athlete in the early 2000s because he wanted justice. Jones vehemently denies the allegations.
“J” had been unable to stand up to Jones at the time, he said in at times tearful evidence.
- “J” told the court that he felt like “I’m here because I haven’t been able to say no and stand up for the right thing and do the right thing.” He said it was “a proud dad, I want to teach my daughter right from wrong. What the defendant was doing, I know it was wrong.”
- The Crown alleges Jones indecently assaulted “J” nine times on four different days, starting when the complainant was in year 12 and continuing over about a two-year period.
- Earlier today, “J” gave evidence about a night he says he spent alone with Jones at the broadcaster’s Southern Highlands property. He told the court that Jones told him after dinner to shower and to “come back in a robe and nothing else”. He told the court this was the prelude to being indecently assaulted.
- At the end of his evidence, bank statements belonging to the complainant were tendered in court. “J” said that some time after his contact with Jones waned he received a call from the broadcaster’s accountant explaining that fortnightly payments Jones had been paying him for several years were about to end.
- Shortly after that, he said he received an email from the accountant or 2GB, which detailed payments totalling $110,000. The wording was confusing, he said, and he did not understand if he was being told he owed the money. “J” said he called Jones seeking clarification, and was told he did not have to repay the funds.
“J” will be cross-examined after lunch by Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, SC.
Bank statements belonging to complainant “J” have been tendered in court.
Following what “J” has told the court was the final overnight stay at Jones’ Macquarie Street apartment, where the last alleged assault occurred against him, correspondence between him and the former broadcaster waned, the court heard.
Jones would call him sporadically or text him saying he loved him, “J” said, but the pair did not see each other much any more.
The court has heard that complainant “J” made a report to police after seeing media coverage about allegations against Jones.
“J” told the court that after watching Jones’ arrest unfold on the news, he went to the police station named in the reports and later made a statement.
Asked by prosecutor Georgina Wright, SC, why he did that, he paused briefly and then delivered these remarks:
“I’m going to be 100 per cent honest – I feel like I’m here because I haven’t been able to say no and stand up for the right thing and do the right thing.
Court has reconvened following a morning tea break.
Complainant “J” has told the court about the moment he says he told his then-girlfriend about Jones’ alleged assaults.
He said that one or two months after the last alleged unwanted kiss at Jones’ Circular Quay apartment, he told his then-partner that he was dealing with a lot.
“Alan Jones has been sexually touching me for a while now,” he told her.
“She said I’ve gotta tell someone, you have to go and report this and tell someone now… I think I said, ‘I can’t do it’.”
Complainant “J” became emotional as he told the court about a night he planned to stand up for himself while staying at Jones’ Macquarie Street apartment, known as “the Toaster”.
After enduring several alleged assaults by Jones over two years, the man said this was the night he was prepared to “stand up and say ‘this should not be happening’.”
“I was going to say no to everything … I am so disappointed that I didn’t.”
The man recalled arriving at the apartment to Jones criticising his outfit and teeth. Jones handed him five $100 notes and told him to buy new clothes, he told the court.
Warning: Graphic content
Not long after complainant “J” walked into the spare bedroom at Jones’ Fitzroy Falls farm, he told the court, he heard Jones tap on the door.
This is a summary of his testimony. As we have noted earlier today, Jones denies the allegations.
Jones asked if everything was OK, the complainant told the court, “J” said it was, and Jones gave him a “cuddle”, with one hand reaching around to squeeze his bottom outside his robe.
Jones gave him a “sloppy kiss” before pulling off the man’s robe, pulling the complainants’ underpants down partially and “wriggling” his body towards him so their penises were touching.
