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Alan Jones trial hears broadcaster gave teenager hundreds of dollars a week
Amanda Meade
The trial has begun.
The crown prosecutor, Georgina Wright, is first to give an opening statement before judge Glenn Walsh.
She is outlining the charges against Alan Jones, starting with complainant J, who met Jones when he was 14 and broke an athletics record.
He was interviewed by Jones on 2GB and Jones bought him a mobile phone and gave him his phone number, the court heard.
Wright alleged before the court that Jones had told complainant J he should concentrate on his training and he would financially support him.
He started giving him $400 a week, paid into his bank account once a fortnight. Over time it rose to $500 and then $600 a week.
In 2003 Jones allegedly repeatedly told complainant J, the court heard, that he loved him, and he would kiss him on the mouth.
It is the crown case that at no time did complainant J consent to the kissing or touching.
Key events
Returning to the prosecution’s argument for a moment before we bring you updates from Alan Jones’ legal teams opening argument, which I’m told has begun.
Jones is accused of indecently assaulting complainant J after he allegedly got into a bed with J, pulled him close and then kissed him.
The court heard during the prosecutions opening argument that J, after being asked by Jones if he was ok, said he had never done anything like this before.
Jones then allegedly grabbed J’s penis before taking out his own.
J was 17 at the time the alleged offending began in 2003 and spanned into 2004.
A break from the evidence to let you know there has been a technical failure in the courtroom’s systems for this high-profile trial.
There is no working audio-visual link of the opening arguments, despite assurances from the court there would be.
This has meant we’ve had to rely on our reporters inside the court room for live updates.
We’re told the team that manages media in the local court is scrambling to fix the issue.
But because this is a local court matter, there is no associate that they can contact to alert them that there’s an issue with the system.
Amanda Meade
The opening from the prosecution has finished.
Judge Glenn Walsh is dealing with outstanding subpoenas before the court hears from the defence.
Amanda Meade
Prosecutor details relationship between Jones and teenage athlete
Wright is now detailing the alleged relationship between Alan Jones and complainant M, who met Jones when he was a 15-year-old accomplished athlete.
The court has heard he invited complainant M to dinner and when he complimented him on the tableware Jones sent him a gift of the same tableware.
On another visit when complainant M complimented the flowers, Jones allegedly sent him fresh flowers each week.
The court heard Jones referred to the young man as “handsome man”, “superstar” and “champion”.
Ben Doherty
Court hears allegations made by complainant C
The court has also heard allegations made by complainant C, who worked at Alan Jones’s radio station 2GB, and as Jones’s driver.
The prosecution alleged Jones would talk about C’s penis, “calling him ‘Donkey’ and saying things like ‘It’s not really that big is it?’ and ‘when can I see it?’”
The court heard allegations that Jones, on several occasions, touched C on the penis, outside his clothes, and rubbed his hand up and down C’s penis as C drove him home from his radio program.
C also alleges Jones would regularly kiss him when they were alone together in lifts, at Jones’s home at 1 Macquarie Street and at the 2GB offices. Often, C was holding Jones’s jacket and briefcase at the time.
C did not consent to any of Jones’s behaviour, prosecutor Georgina Wright told the court.
Wright said the court would be presented with text messages sent by Jones to C, commenting on the “size of his penis, dismay at never having seen C’s penis” and declarations of love.
Wright alleged to the court C did not invite or want to receive the messages but felt he had to reply because he was “concerned about his position in the media industry if he overtly rejected” Jones.
Court told of allegations by complainant J
Amanda Meade
Prosecutor Georgina Wright has told the court that while complainant J was driving the defendant to his Fitzroy Falls property Alan Jones put his hand on his penis, causing him to jump.
Jones is then alleged to have put his hands down complainant J’s underpants and squeezed his penis. The defendant made comments about his penis and complainant J had an erection.
When they got out of the car Jones grabbed complainant J and attempted to give him a kiss, the court heard.
Wright alleged Jones asked him if it was OK and complainant J said no, I have never done anything like this.
Alan Jones trial hears broadcaster gave teenager hundreds of dollars a week
Amanda Meade
The trial has begun.
The crown prosecutor, Georgina Wright, is first to give an opening statement before judge Glenn Walsh.
She is outlining the charges against Alan Jones, starting with complainant J, who met Jones when he was 14 and broke an athletics record.
He was interviewed by Jones on 2GB and Jones bought him a mobile phone and gave him his phone number, the court heard.
Wright alleged before the court that Jones had told complainant J he should concentrate on his training and he would financially support him.
He started giving him $400 a week, paid into his bank account once a fortnight. Over time it rose to $500 and then $600 a week.
In 2003 Jones allegedly repeatedly told complainant J, the court heard, that he loved him, and he would kiss him on the mouth.
It is the crown case that at no time did complainant J consent to the kissing or touching.
Before the trial began today, days of pre-trial hearings were held to organise the schedule, clarify issues and determine the admissibility of certain evidence.
On Friday, Alan Jones’ legal team attempted to prevent the media from directly reporting the evidence of complainant J, who is scheduled to give evidence later today.
They argued that because the evidence is being heard “in-camera” – which means in private and is typically done in such cases to protect the identity of the alleged victim – it did not “permit publication”.
But the judge, Glenn Walsh, rejected this application, stating that in-camera evidence does not prohibit the direct publication of it.
He also noted that complainant J was not “fussed” by media reporting his evidence.
The decision means the media will remain in the courtroom while complainant J gives evidence and can directly report that.
However he will remain anonymised as complainant J in line with the right of all alleged victims of sexual offences to maintain their privacy.
Alan Jones arrives at court
Ben Doherty
Alan Jones has walked into court, with the aid of a cane.
He said hello to a few people waiting in the line to get into the courtroom.
The court is still closed but populated with lawyers involved with the case – from both prosecution and defence sides – and now, the defendant.
When he exited his car outside court, the media scrum flocked towards him.
In that moment, as my colleague Ima Caldwell observed, he remained silent as reporters peppered him with questions:
“How does it feel to have your day in court,” one asked.
“What do you have to say to your alleged victims?” asked another.
My colleague Ben Doherty, who is waiting outside the courtroom, says lawyers have begun to arrive, some wheeling carriages of documents.
A line has built up outside of journalists and members of the public waiting for the courtroom to open.
But not everyone is going to fit.
The trial has been scheduled for a very small courtroom, despite the intense public and media interest.
Ima Caldwell
Media gathers outside Downing Centre
I am outside Sydney’s downing centre this morning where a wall of media has gathered before Alan Jones’s trial.
Cameras on shoulders and microphones out, crews and reporters are competing for a position to catch a glimpse of Jones when he arrives.
Meanwhile, more reporters are lining up inside to grab one of the limited seats inside the courtroom.
Alan Jones enjoyed his position at the top of media, political and sporting circles for the better part of four decades.
The former English master rose to be a successful Wallabies coach, a prime ministerial speech writer and a top-rating shock jock who was both courted and feared by the political establishment.
So demanding was Jones that the former prime minister John Howard was said to have appointed a dedicated go-between known as the minister for Alan Jones. People on both sides of politics believed Jones’s breakfast radio show could influence elections.
Today, the 85-year-old will be sitting in the dock in a New South Wales local court room as a criminal defendant.
My colleague Amanda Meade, who will be covering the case from inside the court room, has detailed here Jones’s career and the charges he now faces:
Today’s hearing will kick off at 10am and will begin with opening arguments from the prosecution and Alan Jones’s lawyers.
The first complainant – complainant J – is then expected to give evidence this afternoon.
Complainant J is anonymised in line with the right of all alleged victims of sexual offences to maintain their privacy.
The court heard in pre-trial arguments complainant J, whose case accounts for nine of the 22 charges, told police he met Jones as a young man and was given a mobile phone by the then 2GB breakfast host, who invited him to visit his Macquarie Street apartment.
Jones is alleged to have put his arms around complainant J at the apartment, and given him a “squeeze” and a “peck” on the mouth while saying “I love you mate”.
The court has heard that Jones allegedly touched complainant J’s penis while he was driving him to Fitzroy Falls in the New South Wales southern highlands.
The prosecution case is that there is a pattern of alleged behaviour by Jones involving the targeting of “significantly younger men” in his professional and social circle.
You can read more about the case in our story here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live blog covering Alan Jones’s indecent assault trial.
The former broadcaster’s high-profile trial begins today in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court and is expected to run for four months and hear from 76 witnesses.
Jones is facing 22 charges at his judge-alone trial. They include 20 indecent assault and two sexual touching charges, the court was told in pre-trial hearings last month. In 2018 the offence of indecent assault was replaced by sexual touching, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
The youngest complainant, who was 17 at the time of the alleged offending, is due to give evidence in camera – or in a closed courtroom – today after the delivery of opening statements by the prosecution and the defence.
Thanks for joining us.
