Crown says MP Gareth Ward's alleged assaults 'not a coincidence' in closing address
On Thursday, in closing submissions in week eight of the trial, the Crown said both alleged victims were "strangers to each other, living separate lives, hours apart", and yet had each independently come forward with "remarkably similar accounts of being assaulted by Mr Ward".
"It is not a coincidence," the prosecutor told the NSW District Court in Sydney.
"There are just too many similarities for that to be the case.
"Keep in mind how these men are not known to each other, they live in different cities, [and] there is no suggestion they have in any way gotten their heads together.
Mr Ward has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent.
The jury has heard that both young men, aged 24 and 18 at the time of the alleged offending, had each met Mr Ward through his position as a then-Liberal MP.
One was employed as a political staffer, and the other encountered Mr Ward at a networking event.
The Crown said the nature of their relationship with Mr Ward was "very unequal in terms of the power dynamic".
The Crown said both complainants said they were feeling emotionally low on the nights in question; the older after a difficult day at work, the younger due to a relationship breakdown, and both had been drinking.
The court heard they were both separately invited to Mr Ward's homes in Potts Point and Meroo Meadow shortly before the alleged assaults in 2015 and 2013.
The Crown said each of the men described being touched inappropriately while lying down, one in a bed, the other on the grass and later in a bed, and both said Mr Ward continued after being told to stop.
The Crown told the jury it could consider the numerous independent similarities when weighing the credibility of the complainants' accounts.
"You might think what happened to [the complainants] did not happen by random chance or just dumb luck," she said.
"Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion — this is not a coincidence.
"The Crown says the only reasonable explanation for the similarities is that the complainants are giving truthful accounts."
The prosecution also raised what is known in law as "tendency evidence", behaviour that may suggest a person has a particular state of mind or pattern of conduct.
The Crown said the jury could consider the combined evidence of both complainants involving Mr Ward as showing a tendency for him to be sexually interested in young, subordinate men, and to act on that interest.
After her opening, the Crown turned to the prosecution case in more detail about the older complainant, and the alleged assault at Mr Ward's apartment at Potts Point after an event at NSW Parliament in September 2015.
The Crown said the older complainant correctly identified the sparsely furnished Potts Point apartment, down to the specific bedroom, arguing this level of detail supported his account that the assault happened there.
The Crown said the older complainant's willingness to concede small, uncomfortable details — like briefly participating in a kiss with Mr Ward, was a mark of honesty, not embellishment, and showed he knew it was important to tell the truth "warts and all".
The jury was told the accused appeared to be "smoothing things over" the morning after the alleged assault, taking a detour to a cafe with the complainant instead of his usual parliament entrance, in what was framed as an attempt to defuse the night before.
The Crown described a series of "deflections" by the complainant after the alleged assault, saying he walked a fine line, remaining polite and friendly with an MP while quietly distancing himself, all to protect his career.
Jurors were told the complainant was deeply conscious of Mr Ward's influence, worried about losing political opportunities, and even feared being unable to pay his bills, pressures that the Crown said explained his continued friendliness.
The Crown is continuing to make closing submissions, with the defence then expected to present its closing submissions to the jury.
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