A prominent athlete was left in “disbelief” after Alan Jones kissed him without consent at a public event before the veteran broadcaster sent him a text message saying, “I would like to be kissing you all night”, the indecent assault trial has heard.
The man, known as Complainant M, is giving evidence in a closed session of the NSW Local Court on Monday, and has chosen to sit in the same room as Mr Jones.
Live updates, reactions and contributions from ABC readers.
Hearing breaks for lunch
The hearing has now adjourned for lunch.
Isobel Roe says there may be a legal argument at 2pm, which may mean the witness might not be called straight back in.
Complainant M was asked if he consented to being kissed by Mr Jones on that day.
“In no way what whatsoever,” he replied.
The athlete said he could not recall the year of the alleged offence, but believed it was in 2020.
He said he left promptly after pushing Mr Jones away.
“I didn’t say goodbye, or if I did it was ‘bye’ on the way out the door,” he told the court.
He said he did not tell anyone at the time but he told a few friends, and his mother, some years later.
Complainant M has started to detail a second alleged kiss, for which Mr Jones has been charged with one count of sexual touching.
He said he went to Mr Jones’s Circular Quay apartment for a visit, and noticed the veteran broadcaster’s butler was not there, which he said was “unusual”.
“The defendant had begun kissing me from my cheek … the kisses were getting closer to my mouth and at the same time as kissing me he was saying things like, ‘I love you so much, you don’t know how much I love you,'” the complainant said.
“As I could feel his genitalia against me, I pushed him away, saying, ‘OK mate’ in a tone to say ‘get away from me’.”
Asked if Mr Jones lips touched his mouth, the complainant said they had, on “my right side”.
The athlete said he felt like the living room was set out differently that day, and the couch might have been in a different position, but he was not sure.
“I felt there was something behind me that was blocking me from getting away from the defendant when they started kissing me,” he said.
Isobel Roe is elaborating on earlier evidence given by Complainant M about his alleged interactions with Mr Jones.
He said Mr Jones would often farewell him in person or via text message with a particular phrase: “If someone hasn’t told you, let me be the first person to tell you that you’re special.”
Asked what he thought about that, Complainant M said it made him uncomfortable.
“It was flattering, and then I got a little uncomfortable about it because its something that not even my parents would say to me,” he said.
After the alleged kiss on the mouth, which constitutes one count of indecent assault, Complainant M told the court he was “embarrassed”.
Asked whether he thought anyone sitting on his table was looking towards him at the time, the complainant said he did not think so.
He said he “got out of there quickly” and went straight home, but alleged that he received a text message from Mr Jones on the way home.
“To the best of you recall what did it say?” Georgina Wright SC asked.
“Something to the effect of, ‘I would like to be kissing you all night’,” Complainant M said.
The athlete said he was apprehensive as to whether he should respond because he wanted Mr Jones to “go away”, so said something “neutral” in response.
Complainant M has been asked about the first of two charges relating to him.
The complainant alleged that at an event with others present in 2015, Mr Jones got up from a table and kissed him on the mouth as he walked past.
“I was kissed by the defendant … and it was out of character for him in the way that he kissed me on that night,” he said.
“He kissed me close to my lips not on my cheek, the side of my lips.
“I recall thinking … like … why would someone do that here? Why would he do that here?
“And it felt like a long walk back to the table.
“I sat down, I didn’t speak about it.”
The man said Mr Jones was “close enough as though he was about to whisper something in my ear”, when the alleged kiss occurred.
He said he was in shock and disbelief, but was not certain how he reacted at the time. He said he did not say anything to Mr Jones.
The complainant said he would see Mr Jones in both professional and social settings.
He described Mr Jones as greeting him with a handshake or hug in professional settings, but “a kiss on the cheek” in social settings at his apartment.
As well as the tableware, the complainant said he made a comment about a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Mr Jones’s dining table on one occasion.
After that the man said he received weekly deliveries of flowers, for “a number of years”.
He said they were dropped off at his doorstep.
Asked whether he saw who dropped them off, Complainant M said it was “the defendant’s driver”.
The complainant said he had lunch during that visit, and made a comment about Mr Jones’s “beautiful” set of tableware.
Asked whether he then received something in the mail, Complainant M said he did.
“Yes, I was mailed that particular set of tableware from Mr Jones,” he told the court.
He said there was a note attached, but he does not recall what it said.
The complainant was also asked if Mr Jones ever kissed him during his visits to the apartment.
“Although I don’t know if he kissed me the first time … subsequent times I went to the apartment, he would kiss me on the cheek,” the athlete said.
Complainant M has begun to give evidence, under questioning from barrister for the prosecution Georgina Wright SC.
He has told the court he first met Mr Jones while he was a young athlete, and did interviews on his radio program.
He described the defendant as being “always incredibly overwhelmingly complimentary,” or “flattering”, and said that it “made me awkward or uncomfortable”.
Complainant M said years later he went to Mr Jones’s apartment at Circular Quay.
“He often would greet me with something quite flattering, [like] champion, beautiful man,” he told the court.
He has also alleged on another occasion, some time between December 2018 and October 2020, Mr Jones kissed him and pressed his genitalia against him while the pair were at Mr Jones’s Circular Quay apartment.
Mr Jones has been charged with one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual touching in relation to Complainant M.
He has pleaded not guilty to all 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching in this trial.
Approved media has been given permission to view the athlete’s evidence via video link from another room, after making an application to the judge.
‘I was embarrassed’
On Monday, Complainant M was questioned about an event in 2015 where he alleged Mr Jones kissed him on the lips and later sent him a text message, referencing the incident.
He said during the event, Mr Jones approached him closely “as if he was about to whisper something in my ear” before the veteran broadcaster kissed him.
“I recall thinking like, ‘the f**k’ just kind of happened, like why would someone do that here, why would he do that here?” Complainant M said.
“I froze at that time and because I was in disbelief of where this was happening and didn’t understand why it was happening.”
Mr Jones has pleaded not guilty to all 22 charges. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
The athlete said the kiss, which lasted about two seconds, was “out of character” because it was not on the cheek and was in public.
“I don’t know if it was because I was shocked or if it was because I was embarrassed,” he said.
“At the time I said nothing, and I just knew I did not want to be there.”
The complainant told the court he left the event and was either on his way home or had arrived home when Mr Jones sent him a text message saying, “I would like to be kissing you all night”.
The athlete said he was apprehensive as to whether he should respond because he wanted Mr Jones to “go away”, so said something “neutral” in response.
Athlete ‘uncomfortable’ with on-air praise
Earlier, Complainant M told the trial he was first interviewed by Mr Jones over the phone and later met the radio host in-person for the first time at a sporting venue in the 2000s.
He told the court he felt “uncomfortable” with how “glowing” Mr Jones was of him on-air.
“Usually, very, very positive, always incredibly overwhelming in some ways complementary, the introduction of myself,” the complainant said.
“Made me a tad bit awkward or uncomfortable with how glowing it was.”
The complainant told the court he visited Mr Jones at his Circular Quay apartment years later where the pair had lunch together.
“He greeted me with open arms, as to indicate to me to give him a hug,” he said.
Complainant M told the court he felt “uncomfortable” with Mr Jones’s “on-air praise”. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
During the lunch, Complainant M said he was being “polite” when he described the tableware as “beautiful”, which Mr Jones then sent to his home with a note weeks later.
The complainant said on subsequent occasions visiting Mr Jones’s apartment, the veteran broadcaster would greet him by saying, “champion, beautiful man, give me a hug” and would also kiss the athlete on the cheek.
He said Mr Jones then started to send flowers and a note to his home every week, which the complainant said lasted for several years.
The court heard Mr Jones would often say goodbye to the athlete, both in-person and over the phone, by telling him, “if someone hasn’t told you, let me be the first person to tell you, you’re special”.
“At first, it was flattering and then I got a little bit uncomfortable about it ’cause it’s something not even my parents say to me … I just find it a little unusual for something to be said to someone,” the complainant said.
‘Did not want to be kissed by him in that way’
The complainant told the court he continued to keep in contact with Mr Jones in the years following the 2015 alleged incident.
He said several years later, he visited the Circular Quay apartment one last time where he alleged Mr Jones sexually touched him as he was about to leave.
“The defendant had begun kissing me from my cheek, the kisses were getting closer to my mouth at the same time as kissing me he was saying things like ‘I love you so much, you don’t know how much I love you’,” the complainant said.
“As I could feel his genitalia against [my leg], I pushed him away saying ‘okay mate’ in a tone to say get away from me, that was my intent.
“He moved backwards … he stopped kissing me, he looked towards me as I left the apartment.”
The complainant said the kiss began at the “middle part of his cheek” and that Mr Jones continued to “move slowly” to the side of his lip.
The athlete said he pushed Mr Jones away when the broadcaster’s lips touched the side of his mouth.
“He moved backwards … he stopped kissing me, he looked towards me as I left the apartment.”
When asked if the complainant had consented to the incident or did anything to invite the behaviour from Mr Jones, he replied, “no way whatsoever” and said “I know I did not want to be kissed by him in that way”.
The athlete told the court he later confided in several people about the incident at Mr Jones’s apartment, including his mother, and told them he pushed the radio host away.
He said when he spoke to one person about the interaction, the person said it “didn’t surprise” them.
The complainant said on one occasion, his agent told him he was “in some financial difficulty” he did not know about.
He said he was at Mr Jones’ Fitzroy Falls property at the time, and he and Mr Jones “had a discussion around where my finances were at the time.”
“I cried … about the state they were in,” he said.
“The defendant said that he would help … reassured me.”
