One of three women who say they were gang-raped by a boyfriend and his friends during a money weekend told jurors she felt a “swarm of people around me”.
The woman, who was 18 at the time of the alleged rapes, gave evidence against her accused attackers in Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Wednesday.
Maurice Hawell, his brother Marius Hawell and their friend Andrew David have pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated sexual assault in company.
David and Maurice Hawell say any sexual relations they had were consensual and deny engaging in certain acts, while Marius Hawell insists he did not engage in any sexual activity.
Their accusers cannot identify who committed each alleged act against them, but the three men face trial together for participating in a joint criminal enterprise.
Maurice Howell was 27, his brother 20 and David 28 when they traveled from Sydney to Newcastle in February 2022 with six other men before the elder Hawell’s wedding.
Three men accused of gang rape over a weekend at an Airbnb apartment met their first alleged victims, two 18-year-old friends, at a nearby pub. Maurice Hawell (pictured) pleaded not guilty to 11 charges involving three women
They are accused of raping three teenagers, Miss A, Miss B and Miss C, during Bucks weekend between Friday, February 22 and the following night.
The group booked a three-bedroom Airbnb apartment for the occasion and on Friday night some of them headed to the nearby Cambridge Hotel.
At the pub, one of the group, ‘Matt’, met Miss A and her friend Miss B, 18, who had joined three other mates at the Hunter Street premises.
Matt is not accused of committing any crime at any time. Miss A did not know the names of any of her friends, but the Crown says she was in the pub with the Hawells and David.
Miss A, who gave her evidence via audio-visual link, had kissed Matt, who bought her a can of Smirnoff Ice Double Black vodka and a citrus-flavoured soft drink.
The couple separated and Miss A went to the dance floor where she had a drink of ecstasy, her second of the night.
“I was just on the dance floor with friends, dancing, singing, having a good time,” Miss A told the jury.
Andrew David (pictured) and brothers Maurice and Marius Hawell were among a group of nine men who rented a three-bedroom property in Hunter Valley, New South Wales, two years ago. David has pleaded not guilty to raping three women he met that weekend
The next time Miss A saw Matt, he was with one of his group and invited her back to his rented flat in Parry Street.
“I said only if my friend (Miss B) can come because I don’t want to go alone,” Miss A told Matt.
The court previously heard that Maurice Hawell asked Ms B around the same time if she wanted to return to Airbnb.
Miss A, who had consumed a third Smirnoff on top of two cans of rum and Coca-Cola before going to the Cambridge, said she left the hotel with Matt, two of her friends and Miss B.
“I was starting to slur my words, but I still felt in control,” he told the jury.
Once inside the apartment, Miss A said Miss B went into a bedroom with a man the Crown claims is Maurice Hawell and that she went into another bedroom with Matt.
Miss A said she and Matt got on the bed and started chatting “just getting to know each other,” and then started kissing.
“There was foreplay and then we had sex,” she said.
Brothers Hawell and Andrew David met two 18-year-old women at Newcastle’s Cambridge Hotel as they returned to their rented flat. Marius Hawell (pictured) insists she did not engage in sexual acts
Miss A said that after the couple had sex, the door opened and a man the Crown claims is Maurice Hawell walked naked into the room.
‘(The naked man) kept saying, “Can I join you and Matt?” and ‘I’m a better root than Matt,’ he said.
“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I know I said no.”
Miss A said the man the Crown alleges is Maurice Hawell and put her hand on his upper left thigh before Matt told her to leave.
Maurice Hawell had already had consensual sexual relations with Miss B, who had also had consensual sexual relations with Andrew David.
Miss A said she found Miss B in the kitchen and the pair went to the bathroom where they talked about feeling “uncomfortable”.
The two women then went into the bedroom where Miss A and Matt had previously had sex to pick up their phones and turned off the light, Miss A said.
“I felt a swarm of people around me,” he told the jury. “At first I thought Matt was there, so I didn’t react right away.”
The Bucks group booked a three-bedroom Airbnb apartment ahead of Maurice Hawell’s wedding and on Friday night some of them headed to the nearby Cambridge Hotel.
Miss A said she was forced to lie face up on the bed. “My shirt was untied and my skirt was up,” she said.
Miss A said she was then subjected to a series of sexual assaults by three men she could not identify, but whom the Crown said were brothers Hawell and David.
“I just yelled, ‘Where’s Matt?'” he said. ‘Several people responded, “It’s Matt.” I asked about three or four times where Matt was.
“I felt like everyone in the room was like, ‘I’m Matt.'”
Miss A said that at some point Matt came into the bedroom and she asked him: ‘Can you get your friend off of me?’
‘He spoke a different language that I didn’t know to his friends. He kept asking me if I was okay. I said, “Yes, I’m fine” and asked where she (Miss B) was.
‘(Miss B) responded and said, “I’m here.” She was in bed next to me.
The Crown’s case is that Miss B had also been subjected to non-consensual sexual acts by the men.
Maurice Hawell (pictured) is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count each of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.
Miss A said she told Miss B that they had to leave the apartment because everything was “weird,” before walking past three naked men in the kitchen.
The two women returned to the Cambridge with Matt, whom she kissed on the dance floor after meeting the rest of her friends.
Miss A said she told her friends that she had had sex with Matt, but did not mention being assaulted by anyone.
“I kept the whole group thing to myself,” he told the jury. “I felt embarrassed and embarrassed by what had happened.”
Miss A said she exchanged phone numbers and Snapchat details with Matt and days later sent him naked photos of herself.
“I still wanted to meet him,” he said. “It was still cool and fun.”
Under cross-examination by Maurice Hawell’s lawyer, Richard Pontello SC, Miss A said she did not go to the police until she was contacted on March 8, around two weeks after the alleged rapes.
Marius Hawell (pictured) is charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count each of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.
Later that day, Miss A sent Miss B a series of text messages that included a note saying, “I thought it was funny and all until I realized how dangerous and serious it is.”
Miss A denied telling a friend before leaving Cambridge: “I’m going back to these guys’ hotel, I’m going to put down roots.”
He also denied that Miss B had said: “I’m going back to (Miss A) to get a root too.”
Miss A agreed with Mr Pontello that she was “interested and depressed about whatever was going to happen” with Matt, but said that would not include group sex with Miss B.
She didn’t remember having the following conversation with a friend in Cambridge after returning from the apartment.
Friend: ‘What did you do?’
Miss A: ‘Yes, we fucked.’ He was really good to Matt. But it was happening like an orgy. “There were so many guys there it was crazy.”
Miss B: ‘Yes, it was crazy.’
When asked if she would not have made a statement about the matter unless she had been contacted by the police, Miss A said “Correct.”
Maurice Hawell and David are charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count each of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.
Marius Hawell is charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault in company and one count each of aggravated sexual touching of another person and attempted aggravated sexual assault in company.
The trial before Judge Gina O’Rourke continues.
