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A woman has denied exaggerating to police a conversation she had with a work colleague who alleged Alan Jones touched his bottom at a packed function in Sydney.
Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty 19 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent, relating to five men over 17 years from 2003 to 2020. He denies all alleged physical acts.
The fourth complainant to testify, known as “H”, told the Downing Centre Local Court trial that he was chatting to Jones and two others at an event several years ago when Jones touched his upper back and “went slowly down my back and then rested [his hand] on my bottom”. He said he did not consent to the touch.
On Wednesday, the court heard from two people to whom the complainant confided, including a then-colleague, who said that she asked “H” several days after the event how the night went and that he did not immediately respond.
She told prosecutor Emma Curran, SC, that the man, who worked as an executive, “looked stunned and upset”.
When she asked what was wrong, “H” told her “Jones had put his hand on his back and had run it down his back and across his buttocks, over his buttock”.
“I said, ‘What did you do?’… He said, ‘I didn’t do anything. What could I do?’ ” the woman said, adding she told him “that’s awful”.
The witness said the man “looked visibly upset” as he described shock at this happening “in a room full of people who were associates of Mr Jones”.
“His face was quite less mobile than it usually is. He was not relaxed.”
During cross-examination, defence barrister Michael Burke suggested that, when the woman spoke to police about five years later, she did not have a clear memory of the discussion.
The woman “absolutely refute[d]” that proposition, adding that the complainant’s face and demeanour “sticks with me now”. She said that “this sophisticated man, who was very comfortable in himself … was so completely white and shocked”.
‘This sophisticated man, who was very comfortable in himself … was so completely white and shocked.’
Work colleague of complainant “H”
“I was surprised, and as a colleague and a man I liked very much, I felt for him,” she said.
The woman accepted she may not have accurately recalled the date of the conversation.
Burke put to her that if she was so concerned by the discussion, she would have followed up by text or similar to check up on “H”. He suggested she did not do so because the demeanour she remembers is “just an exaggeration”.
“I suggest to you that the version of the complaint you’ve given now is an exaggeration of a conversation you may have had with [‘H’],” Burke said. The woman rejected this.
The witness was taken to text messages exchanged with “H” before giving her police statement.
These included her writing that she hoped Jones was charged and “H” saying that “everything needs to be perfect”.
On the day of Jones’ arrest, the woman texted, “and so it begins”. “H” responded with “How good!”
About this time, “H” also wrote: “I just hope my experience can help get Alan for all those young guys.”
The witness agreed with Burke that she did not mention this communication to police when she later gave her statement, though clarified in re-examination by Curran that police did not ask her about any such contact.
Her colleague’s then-boss also gave evidence on Wednesday, and confirmed attending the function but said she did not pay close attention to Jones and did not witness the alleged incident.
The woman told the court she had a conversation with “H” either the day after the event or “quite close” to it, which began with the man telling her that he knows how women feel.
She said he used a hand gesture as he told her that Jones touched his back and ran his hand down it while standing in a group.
She said “H” asked her to “keep the matter completely confidential”. The woman later gave a statement to police.
“H” earlier told the court he contacted The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont after reading her December 2023 article detailing allegations against Jones.
Several months later, he read another of her articles, noticing “the allegations of what [he] said” were included. He said he gave McClymont permission to pass his details on to police, and he later provided a statement.
The trial continues before Judge Glenn Walsh.
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