During the rape trial of a police officer in the Northern Territory, the accused was heard to have been spoken to by a colleague about his relationship with the alleged victim, before allegations of “improper conduct” were made.
Most important points:
- Patrick Carson pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual intercourse
- The trial is largely closed to the public and media for the first week
- Mr Carson is accused of assaulting a young woman he was friends with in 2020
Patrick Carson pleaded not guilty to two charges of unauthorized sexual intercourse, related to two alleged incidents involving a young woman he had befriended in 2020.
His attorney told the jury at the beginning of the trial that the defense would be that there was “no sexual intercourse of any kind” on either occasion.
She does, however, state that there is no doubt that the suspect and complainant were occasionally alone together.
The trial, which began last week, has been closed to the public and media until today.
In a statement read in court, an acquaintance and colleague of Mr Carson, who also knew the alleged victim, said he recalled telling Mr Carson to “be careful” and “don’t do stupid things.” to do”.
The witness cannot be identified to protect the identity of the alleged victim.
“I just had a feeling [the complainant] maybe a little bit in love with him and I didn’t want him to end up in a situation that would be hard to explain to his wife,” the statement read.
“Patrick did say he helped her because she didn’t get along with her parents.
“He assured me it was innocent” [and] that he was just being a little protective of her, because she was quite immature and lacking in self-confidence.”
The court heard that Mr Carson had been called to a meeting with the colleague and another friend, outside of a police context, when allegations of “improper conduct” were made.
The statement said Mr Carson had been provided with a series of screenshots of messages he had sent to the complainant and that he had then admitted to being “a little” in love with her.
“He stated that he had lost significant weight, that a young woman had given him some attention,” the witness statement said.
“He assured us that nothing was wrong and he was ashamed that we had been made aware of the situation.”
The court heard that Mr. Carson had also said his wife had spoken to him and that he had reduced the amount of time he spent with the alleged victim.
Court hears of alleged assault in backyard
Earlier, the jury heard from two friends of the alleged victim, who also cannot be identified, who told the court that the complainant had expressed concerns about Mr Carson’s alleged conduct.
The first witness told the court that she suggested that the complainant keep a record of her communications with Mr. Carson “to protect herself if something were to happen”.
The court heard that the alleged victim had told the witness that Mr. Carson had “undressed”. [her] off” and attacked her in his backyard during a massage.
She described her boyfriend as “quite hysterical” and “a bit panicky” when they spoke on the phone after the alleged incident in May 2020.
The court heard that the complainant told the witness that she thought that Mr. Carson “just didn’t realize what he was doing” and that she nodded when he “keep asking if it was okay” during the massage.
The witness said she received a SnapChat photo of the alleged victim on July 8, 2020, which shows Mr. Carson’s hand on her leg.
She told the jury: “It said something like ‘he’s here and I don’t know what to do’ or something like that”.
The court heard that the alleged victim asked the witness to call her and “fake an emergency”.
Cross-examined by Mr. Carson’s attorney Mary Chalmers SC, the witness agreed that she had previously described her friend as someone who “has a tendency to exaggerate a lot”.
“Remember when she was being researched in college at one point?” Ms Chalmers SC asked.
‘Yes,’ said the witness.
“And it’s in the context of that [investigation] did you tell them she tends to exaggerate a lot?”
“Yes.”
‘It sounded like she’d been crying’
Another friend of the alleged victim, who told the court she also knew Mr Carson, said the complainant called her “very upset” on the evening of July 8, 2020, after meeting the complainant and Mr Carson. abandoned at a house in Darwin earlier that day.
“I couldn’t really get many words out of her…it sounded like she’d been crying,” the witness said.
The court heard that the witness had gone to the house to meet the alleged victim, where she told her that “Paddy had been there and they had been sitting on the couch”.
The witness said the complainant had told her that “Paddy” had pretended to go to sleep and “put his hand in her shirt”.
The witness told the court that the complainant was “quite exhausted and stressed” when she received a text from “Paddy” saying that he was returning home to deliver her food.
“She said she didn’t want to see him… we turned off all the lights and went to the back bedroom of the house,” the witness said.
The trial continues on Monday.