source : the age
Warning: Graphic content
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Alan Jones’ criminal trial in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.
Jones, 85, is standing trial on 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent relating to six male complainants over a 17-year period from 2003 to 2020. He denies the alleged physical acts occurred.
On Monday, the third of the six complainants, a former athlete dubbed “M”, started giving evidence.
His cross-examination started on Tuesday, and he returns to the witness box today for further questioning by Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, SC, after a break in the trial on Wednesday. “M” has told the court:
- Jones kissed him on the corner of his mouth at an event in Sydney about a decade ago. “I think I froze at that time,” “M” said.
- He rejected suggestions by Bashir on Tuesday that the alleged kiss didn’t happen.
- The court has heard Jones texted “M” after the function: “Great to see you. Sorry I didn’t catch up after, had to go back to work. You looked great. I love you, I hope you can feel my kisses darling xxxx.”
- “M” replied: “Nice to see you too. I had a very long day today and I am pleased to be in bed now; thanks mate xoxo.” The conversation ended in “M” saying “let me know when we can catch up. Lots of love” and Jones replying: “I will darling. Big kisses forever.”
- “M” agreed during cross-examination that he did not tell police in his statements that Jones kissed him on the lips at the event. But he said that “I believe I pointed to where it was”.
- The complainant said he had “a close relationship with Jones over a period of time” and that “in certain areas” he could go to the broadcaster if he needed help.
- The court has previously heard that Jones texted “M” on another occasion, after receiving a photo: “I love the photo. I love you. I want to kiss you for hours. That is beautiful. We must catch up darling [name] xxx”. “M” said he did not respond immediately. Hours later, Jones wrote: “I hope my message did not upset you. I love you.” The man said he responded the next day, writing: “Not at all mate. It’s nice to be loved.”
- The complainant said he had used the word “mate” for many reasons. “I know I’d made it very clear that … it wasn’t moving into a relationship, so ‘mate’ was my way of pushing back, I guess.”
- Reflecting on the messages, “M” told the court that he believed “it’s a person that is in love with me”, adding that he did not return those feelings.
- “M” said that on the last occasion he visited Jones at his harbourside apartment, the broadcaster kissed him on the cheek towards his lips and said words to the effect of, “I love you so much, you don’t know how much I love you.” The complainant said he could feel Jones’ genitals on his leg.
- The complainant said he pushed the broadcaster away and said, “OK, mate”, in a tone intended to convey “get away from me”, and “got out of there as quickly as possible”.
- The court heard Jones had sent the complainant gifts including weekly flowers for years and a dinner set. The complainant agreed he also sent Jones flowers at least once.
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.
There has been a tense exchange between Bashir and “M” about certain text messages.
The texts were sent on the night Jones allegedly kissed the complainant without his consent at a Sydney function.
A series of messages exchanged following the event included Jones writing that “M” was “beautiful tonight” and that they must catch up.
That night, “M” replied: “Let me know when we can catch up. Lots of love.” Jones responded: “I will darling. Big big kisses forever xxxxx.”
Bashir suggested this was a “typical exchange” between the pair.
Bashir has taken “M” to a night that he spent time with Jones.
This was around the time Jones would send him affectionate messages, the court heard, and “M” said he often replied by calling him “mate” to “push him away”.
“You were not pushing him away on that occasion,” Bashir said.
“No, I wasn’t at that time of the day,” “M” responded.
The next texts exchanged between the pair were about “M” asking Jones for his address to send him flowers.
The court has previously heard Jones delivered “M” flowers weekly for years. They were dropped off from the market by the broadcaster’s driver, the complainant has said.
The complainant has agreed he sent Jones a shirtless photo of himself.
“M” said he had just had a photo taken of himself in Paris when Jones had asked how he was doing. He said he thought he looked good in that photo, so he sent it with the reply: “This well haha”.
The court heard Jones responded: “I love the photo. I love you. I want to kiss you for hours. That is beautiful. We must catch up xxxxxx.”
“M” agreed Jones followed up with a message saying he hoped his earlier text did not upset him and that “M” responded, “not at all mate, it’s nice to be loved”.
“M” said that with the word “mate,” he was “making sure this is not perceived to be any other relationship”. He agreed that he was hoping Jones had not perceived his sending of the shirtless photo as “anything flirty”.
“M” has rejected Bashir’s suggestion that the variations in his accounts to police mean “that kiss did not happen”.
“The kiss did happen,” he responded.
He continued: “I know the kiss happened because I can’t get it out of my memory … What I may not be able to give is who was sitting at my table [and] at which direction something may have happened. Those things I may not recall.”
Bashir said that some of these details are ones he signed as true and accurate in his police statements.
“M” replied that what he does know “definitely” is the location that the kiss took place in respect of the stage location.
“I put to you [that] your kiss allegation could not have happened in any of the ways you described,” Bashir said.
“M” said that was incorrect.
Bashir has suggested “M” gave differing accounts of his and Jones’ movements leading up to the alleged kiss in separate statements to police.
The complainant agreed that in his first statement, he said he walked down the stairs and was about to walk past Jones’ table. He also agreed he said he would have had to make a turn at the bottom of the stairs which took him past Jones’ table.
“M” accepted that he said in the first statement that he was facing away from the audience and Jones was facing towards the audience.
“That description is different to the first version that you gave to police, recorded in the notes, where you were coming off the stage and Jones was going on the stage,” Bashir said.
“M” first said he did not see the differences in the accounts, then said that, “at different points, I was facing towards the audience, and [Jones] was facing towards the audience at different points”.
Resuming her cross-examination this morning, Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, SC, is revisiting the Sydney event where Jones allegedly kissed “M” while the complainant walked back to his seat from the stage.
“M” has agreed that when he was interviewed by detectives about the function, he told them that the alleged kiss happened in front of hundreds of people.
Bashir suggested he told them Jones was going onto the stage and “M” was coming off the stage when the kiss happened.
“I don’t recall having said it, but I believe that if that is what [the detective] had written down, I said something similar or to that effect,” “M” said.
“M” has alleged Alan Jones kissed him non-consensually on two occasions spanning a period of up to five years.
The first alleged kiss is said to have occurred about a decade ago at a function in Sydney while the second kiss is alleged to have taken place at the then broadcaster’s harbourside apartment. Jones denies any of the alleged physical acts occurred.
The court has heard so far from three of the six complainants who have accused Alan Jones of unwanted kissing and touching. Their allegations account for 19 of the 22 charges in the trial.
“M” is the third complainant to be called to give evidence, and he is still in the witness box. Two of the charges – one count each of indecent assault and sexual touching – relate to his allegations.
Jones denies any of the physical acts alleged by any of the complainants occurred.
The Crown has foreshadowed that the remaining complainants will give the following evidence:
- Complainant “F”, who was a 17-year-old working in media, is expected to allege that Jones squeezed his buttock through his clothing at a news event in Sydney. “F” is expected to say that he told his mother that Jones “grabbed my bum” but that he decided not to report it because he felt that nobody would believe his word over the broadcaster’s.
- Complainant “A”, who was 17 at the time of the alleged offence, is expected to say that Jones put his tongue inside his mouth when he was visiting the broadcaster’s Fitzroy Falls property. Wright foreshadowed that “A” would say he froze and didn’t know what to do. He alleges that Jones also put his hand on his bottom. The mother of “A” is expected to give evidence that her son later wrote her a note that said something like “someone in power did something they should not have”.
- Complainant “H”, who was aged in his early 30s, will allege Jones met him at a fundraising event in Sydney and used his hand to touch the top of his back, sliding slowly down his spine and resting his hand on the top of his bottom.
Warning: Graphic content
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Alan Jones’ criminal trial in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.
Jones, 85, is standing trial on 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent relating to six male complainants over a 17-year period from 2003 to 2020. He denies the alleged physical acts occurred.
On Monday, the third of the six complainants, a former athlete dubbed “M”, started giving evidence.
