Jury Hears Woman Reject Alleged Rapists Before Attack

A jury in Newcastle District Court has heard a woman repeatedly say 'no' and 'stop' before she was allegedly raped by two country rugby league footballers in the Hunter Valley.

Ryan Matthew Hawkshaw, 27, and Hayden Charles Topliss, 37, are facing a joint trial after pleading not guilty to a series of charges. The men are accused of four counts of aggravated sexual intercourse in company regarding the alleged rape in Scone in the early hours of the morning in 2023.

The complainant, who cannot be named, continued her evidence on Wednesday before being cross-examined. She told the court she knew Mr Hawkshaw 'as a footy boy' before meeting him. At the time, both men played for the Scone Thoroughbreds in the Hunter Valley Group 21 Rugby League competition.

Under cross-examination, the woman denied being interested in Mr Hawkshaw because he was a footy player. 'I knew he was on the [footy] team, I knew he was on the Scone team, I guess,' she said.

The court heard that on the night before the alleged assault, Mr Hawkshaw messaged the woman saying 'oi pick us up' to give the two defendants a lift. The woman drove them to Mr Topliss's house, where she had consensual sex with Mr Hawkshaw before he asked if she wanted Mr Topliss to join.

Crown prosecutor Charisse Hodgeman told jurors the woman said 'no' before Mr Topliss came in naked. The prosecutor said the woman repeatedly said 'no' and 'stop' as she was forced down, repositioned and assaulted.

"She repeatedly said she did not want to have threesome" when Mr Hawkshaw said "come on, we'll get Topper in".

Ms Hodgeman told the jury the woman confided in a relative the next day. 'She said she 'felt like she had been raped',' the Crown prosecutor said.

Both men said all sexual acts were consensual and reject claims they operated as part of a joint criminal enterprise. Barrister Sharyn Hall, representing Mr Topliss, told jurors they had probably all heard 'far too much about footballers and their sex lives'.

"Hayden Topliss maintains that each of the sexual acts that happened in that spare bedroom were consensual," Ms Hall said.

Barrister Caitlin Akthar, representing Mr Hawkshaw, questioned whether they could rely on the complainant's evidence. 'The issue is whether you can rely on her evidence beyond reasonable doubt, and are you satisfied she is being honest and accurate in her evidence?' she said.

During cross-examination, Ms Akthar took the complainant through some Instagram messages, including one on the night of the alleged rape. The woman agreed that Mr Hawkshaw had messaged her that night saying he wanted to have sex with her.

"I knew he was on the [footy] team, I knew he was on the Scone team, I guess,"

Mr Topliss is facing a fifth charge of sexually assaulting the woman on the same night and a sixth charge of sexual touching the complainant in 2024. The trial is due to run up to 10 days.