The son of Australian sporting legend Wendell Sailor has told a court the woman who accused him of rape begged him not to leave after they had consensual sex.
Tristan Sailor, 23, is standing trial in the NSW District Court after he was charged with two aggravated sexual assault charges which stemmed from a sexual encounter he had with the woman in October 2020.
On Friday Mr Sailor, who was set to follow in his father’s footsteps before being dropped from the St George Illawarra Dragons NRL side, spoke for the first time about the allegation.
After first following the woman on Instagram in March 2019, Mr Sailor said the pair exchanged flirtatious messages intermittently until they met in-person after she arrived with a friend at the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi where Dragons players were drinking.
“I said ‘nice to finally meet you’ and then we hugged,” Mr Sailor told the court.
“Originally Korbin [Sims] was in between us but she pulled me next to her and we started talking.
“I’d asked where she had been that day before she came to the Beach Road and she had said she was at a bottomless brunch and I asked her what the drinks were. She said the drinks were margaritas and I said hate margaritas, especially the salt around the rim and she said that’s the best part so we had a little laugh about that.”
Mr Sailor, who the court heard is now studying to become a lawyer, said the pair spoke in the pub beer garden about their studies and “she seemed happy and energetic”.
“We were talking about my tattoos, she seemed curious about them and was asking how many I had and what some of the meant.
“To me she was completely fine, I didn’t see any signs of intoxication.”
When Mr Sailor said he “needed to pee”, he told the court the woman said she did too and they went together.
“We walked into the disabled toilets … I went to pee first as I thought I would be quicker,” he said.
“I stood at the mirror and washed my hands so that I wasn’t looking at her.
“After she had finished she came up to me and we started kissing, that went on for maybe 30 seconds or so. We then checked ourselves in the mirror to make sure we were presentable to go back out and then we took selfies. We both wanted to kiss each other, it was mutual.”
The court heard the woman was not spilling drinks and had no problem walking or talking when she was with Mr Sailor.
After the pair, her female friend and his former teammate Eddie Blacker agreed to get an Uber back to the woman’s apartment, the court heard the woman said “don’t tell anyone you’re coming over” to Mr Sailor.
The group played a drinking game at the apartment called Never Have I Ever, Mr Sailor said.
“The questions that were asked were sexual in nature,” he said.
“One that I definitely remember asking was have you ever had seamen in your a**
“Another one I remember was have you ever done anal. She [the woman] said ‘I enjoy it’ and we all kind of laughed a bit, I think she was looking at me but I’m not sure.
Mr Sailor said he and the woman later went in to her bedroom and prepared to have sex which she agreed she wanted to have.
When the woman’s friend came to the door, Mr Sailor said he asked the friend if the woman was “sweet” and if she was “speaking to anyone” else.
“I guess previously on a night out I had asked a girl if she was speaking to anyone or had a boyfriend and she said no,” Mr Sailor said when asked why he questioned the friend.
“Subsequently we slept together and the next morning I found out from her friend that she did have a boyfriend and that boyfriend ended up being a teammate of mine later on so it was quite an awkward position to be in.
“I didn’t see any harm in just making sure that didn’t arise again.”
The court heard the woman’s friend told Mr Sailor “she has wanted to do this all night”.
“I got on the bed fully then and we started kissing and fondling,” Mr Sailor said.
“We continued doing that and we took her top off. My top came off and then my pants came off as well and we continued just kissing and fondling.”
Mr Sailor said he repeatedly asked the woman if she was comfortable with the sex acts they performed beforehand.
“From probably the age of 14, through the Dragons system … we’ve had yearly, if not biyearly education classes and seminars that specifically speak about things like alcohol, drugs and consent because they’re such important issues,” he said.
“We’ve always been told to ensure that consent is given, that they’re comfortable with anything that’s going to happen.
“As well, the general climate at the moment, I think it’s really been highlighted the accountability that men need to make in their self awareness in relation to consent so I just asked again because I know consent can be withdrawn so that’s why I asked.”
The court heard graphic details of the pairs acts and Mr Sailor said the woman never fell asleep and was conscious the whole time.
“I finished on her stomach,” he said.
“After that she pulled me in and passionately kissed me.
“She said to me ‘don’t go’ but I said sorry I have to.”
Mr Sailor will return to the witness box on xjmtzywMonday when the trial continues.
