Wallabies star Kurtley Beale not guilty of sexual assault in Sydney bar bathroom

Wallabies star Kurtley Beale has been found not guilty of allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in the bathroom of a Bondi bar after a gruelling two-week trial.

Mr Beale, 35, faced a jury trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

The jury rejected claims that Mr Beale groped the woman’s bottom at the Beach Road bar on December 17, 2022, before forcing her into oral sex in the men’s bathroom.

Barrister Margaret Cunneen SC claimed the 29-year-old woman had consented to and been “in control” of the encounter and had made the allegations to gain sympathy.

“I don’t shrink from suggesting she is a manipulative woman who curated circumstances of the night to turn the tables, to turn herself into a victim,” she said on Thursday.