Latest / The Morning Edition / ‘Explosive’ evidence heard as Alan Jones’ trial begins

Transcript

‘Explosive’ evidence heard as Alan Jones’ trial begins · The Morning Edition

• 0:06
  S1: Is Alan Jones guilty of multiple counts of indecent assault?
• 0:11
  S1: Or are the allegations against him by six men the
• 0:14
  S1: result of treachery, desperation and opportunism, as Jones barrister has argued?
• 0:21
  S1: I'm Samantha Selinger Morris and you're listening to The Morning
• 0:24
  S1: Edition from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Today,
• 0:29
  S1: crime reporter Claire Sibthorpe on the allegations aired in court
• 0:33
  S1: so far in the trial of Alan Jones, which began
• 0:36
  S1: this week. And what we can expect in this unusual trial.
• 0:46
  S2: Claire, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much. Glad to
• 0:50
  S2: be here. Now, you were there on the first day
• 0:52
  S2: of Alan Jones's trial. This was on Monday. So can
• 0:55
  S2: you just tell us what the scene was like when
• 0:57
  S2: he arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.
• 1:01
  S2: And I guess what his demeanor was like during the day.
• 1:04
  S3: Absolutely. So Alan Jones arrived at court in a black BMW.
• 1:08
  S3: He was accompanied by his lawyer, Bryan Wrench.
• 1:12
  S4: It's been dubbed the Trial of the year. Former broadcaster
• 1:15
  S4: Alan Jones accused of indecent assault and sexual touching charges.
• 1:19
  S5: A veteran of 35 years behind the microphone, Alan Jones
• 1:23
  S5: was silent today.
• 1:25
  S6: Almost all the news rather than be reporting on it. No,
• 1:28
  S6: don't worry about it. We're just going to keep walking.
• 1:30
  S7: Don't have anything more to say about how you plan
• 1:32
  S7: to defend. Do you think you'll be here for every
• 1:34
  S7: day of the trial? Will you continue to maintain your innocence, sir?
• 1:38
  S3: We navigated quite a thick media scrum, as you can imagine,
• 1:42
  S3: but made his way very slowly into the Downing Centre
• 1:45
  S3: Court complex. He arrives actually, not too long before the
• 1:49
  S3: proceedings kicked off at 10 a.m. he used a cane
• 1:53
  S3: and he did greet a few journalists among the very
• 1:56
  S3: long queue waiting to get inside court 3.1. Now, once
• 2:00
  S3: he was inside the court, he sat in a special chair,
• 2:04
  S3: flanked by his group of high profile lawyers, and he
• 2:07
  S3: sat waiting for the judge, looking out into the distance, um,
• 2:10
  S3: quite fidgety, twirling his cane. And, you know, it wasn't
• 2:14
  S3: clear if he was nervous or impatient, but he was
• 2:18
  S3: definitely moving around a little bit. He sort of swapped
• 2:23
  S3: between writing notes and just staring out into the distance,
• 2:27
  S3: pursed lips occasionally actually nodding off. Um, near the end
• 2:31
  S3: of the day, I mean, let's remember he is 85
• 2:33
  S3: and he does have to appear every day for this trial.
• 2:36
  S3: So it'll be interesting to see, you know, his demeanour.
• 2:44
  S2: And just before we get to the trial itself, can
• 2:46
  S2: you just rewind a little bit and just remind all
• 2:49
  S2: of us really how we got here? Because Alan Jones was,
• 2:52
  S2: you know, once one of the most powerful people in
• 2:54
  S2: Australian media. So I guess just briefly, how did he
• 2:57
  S2: amass so much power and influence with media, with politicians
• 3:02
  S2: and the, you know, general public.
• 3:05
  S3: So he amassed that power over a very long, several
• 3:09
  S3: decades career in radio before retiring from TB in May 2020.
• 3:15
  S3: He wielded a massive amount of political, social and commercial
• 3:19
  S3: power in Australia. He actually started his career as a teacher.
• 3:23
  S3: He was a political candidate at the time. He was
• 3:26
  S3: a speechwriter coach of the Australian National Rugby Union team,
• 3:30
  S3: and then he dominated Sydney Breakfast Radio for 35 years.
• 3:35
  S3: A single rant on his show could trigger a swathe
• 3:37
  S3: of calls to parliamentarians, influence policy and sway election margins. Now,
• 3:43
  S3: some would say that Jones's power stemmed partly from political
• 3:46
  S3: fear rather than respect, and his time on the airwaves
• 3:49
  S3: was not without quite a few controversies. Now, when he
• 3:53
  S3: announced his retirement in 2020, he had had a lot
• 3:55
  S3: of his controversies quite recently. but he told listeners it
• 3:59
  S3: was due to health concerns from the detrimental workload that
• 4:03
  S3: he had been carrying.
• 4:04
  S8: Okay.
• 4:05
  S2: And then Jones was then arrested back in November 2024.
• 4:09
  S2: So can you just tell us about the police investigation,
• 4:12
  S2: the arrest and the charges that were brought against him?
• 4:15
  S3: Yeah. So it was actually a 2023 investigation by the
• 4:19
  S3: Herald's chief investigative reporter, Kate McClymont. Now, her investigation sparked
• 4:25
  S3: the secret creation of Strike Force Bonython, run by the
• 4:28
  S3: State Crime Command, Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad. Big
• 4:32
  S3: name there. So that investigation, Strike Force Bonython spent the
• 4:36
  S3: next year examining the former TV broadcaster. Then in November 2024,
• 4:42
  S3: detectives swooped in on Jones at his luxury harbourside apartment
• 4:46
  S3: in Circular Quay. They seized his devices and arrested him.
• 4:51
  S9: First, some news just in New South Wales. Police have
• 4:54
  S9: arrested veteran broadcaster Alan Jones following an investigation into alleged
• 4:58
  S9: indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.
• 5:03
  S10: At 745 this morning. The Child Abuse Squad came knocking
• 5:07
  S10: on the door of his $20 million apartment in the
• 5:10
  S10: toaster at Circular Quay. The raid first making headlines on
• 5:14
  S10: the radio station.
• 5:16
  S3: Fast forward to now. Alan Jones faces 22 charges against
• 5:20
  S3: six complainants, and this spans from 2003 to 2020. There
• 5:24
  S3: were some changes in the number of charges and the
• 5:27
  S3: types of charges and the number of complainants, but that's
• 5:29
  S3: where we're at today as the trial starts. Now. At
• 5:32
  S3: the time of the alleged incidents, the complainants ranged in
• 5:35
  S3: age from 17 to their early 30s. Of course, Jones
• 5:38
  S3: maintains his innocence and is defending all of the charges
• 5:41
  S3: at his trial. Two of the charges are sexual touching
• 5:45
  S3: without consent and the rest of them are indecent assault.
• 5:49
  S3: The accusations include unsolicited and unwanted touching of the alleged
• 5:52
  S3: victim's genitals or their bottom and kissing their lips. Some
• 5:56
  S3: of these alleged incidents took place in private, such as
• 5:59
  S3: inside Jones's workplace, his Circular Quay apartment and his Fitzroy
• 6:03
  S3: Falls farm, while others actually allegedly occurred in public at
• 6:07
  S3: fundraising events and even at a Lower North Shore restaurant.
• 6:12
  S2: Okay, so this is a long time coming before we
• 6:14
  S2: get to the trial itself, which of course began this week.
• 6:17
  S2: So tell us a bit about how the prosecution is
• 6:19
  S2: trying to form its case.
• 6:22
  S3: So obviously there are quite a few charges. We've got
• 6:24
  S3: 22 as I just said. And what the Crown is
• 6:27
  S3: seeking to rely upon is types of circumstantial evidence. Now
• 6:31
  S3: this is known as tendency. Well, there's two tendency and coincidence.
• 6:35
  S3: So what the Crown is alleging is that Jones had
• 6:38
  S3: a tendency to act on a sexual interest in significantly
• 6:42
  S3: younger men, and he acted on this by touching them
• 6:45
  S3: in a professional or social context without their consent. The
• 6:49
  S3: coincidence evidence seeks to draw on what the Crown has
• 6:51
  S3: identified as similarities in the complainants allegations. Basically, they're arguing
• 6:56
  S3: that these similarities demonstrate the improbability that two or more
• 7:00
  S3: men unknown to each other, could fabricate such reports of
• 7:04
  S3: similar allegations against the same person, coincidentally.
• 7:08
  S2: And we know that Alan Jones, he's entitled to the
• 7:11
  S2: presumption of innocence, and the prosecution has to prove that
• 7:14
  S2: the alleged indecent assault and sexual touching offenses, they've got
• 7:18
  S2: to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt. Right. So I
• 7:20
  S2: guess take us to the Alan Jones side, because his
• 7:23
  S2: lead barrister gave an opening address on Monday. I think
• 7:26
  S2: it's safe to say she didn't hold back. So tell
• 7:28
  S2: us what she said, what might be their approach to,
• 7:31
  S2: you know, presenting their case.
• 7:33
  S3: She definitely didn't hold back. You're right there Samantha. So
• 7:36
  S3: Alan Jones's lead barrister is Gabrielle Bashir SC. She went
• 7:40
  S3: straight into it with some very strong language. Her opening
• 7:43
  S3: line was rivalry, treachery, double dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism
• 7:50
  S3: and more are all at the heart of this case. So,
• 7:53
  S3: she alleges one complainant rewrote the history of his relationship
• 7:57
  S3: with Jones. She also claims that Jones's former two DB
• 8:01
  S3: stable mate Ray Hadley, helped fuel media reports about the
• 8:05
  S3: allegations as part of this wider trial by media attack,
• 8:09
  S3: which included other journalists, including the Herald's Kate McClymont. Now,
• 8:13
  S3: Bashir told the court that rumours and media coverage are
• 8:16
  S3: at the heart of more than a reasonable possibility of
• 8:18
  S3: contamination or reconstruction in this case. She said that the
• 8:23
  S3: credibility and reliability of the complainants will be tested in
• 8:27
  S3: a lengthy trial.
• 8:31
  S1: After the break.
• 8:33
  S3: Now, when the young man was explaining this allegation of
• 8:37
  S3: being indecently assaulted inside Jones's car while they were driving
• 8:41
  S3: to his farm, it was it was, I would say,
• 8:44
  S3: quite explosive.
• 8:57
  S2: Now, we're recording this early in the morning on Tuesday,
• 9:00
  S2: just before the second day of the trial commences. But
• 9:03
  S2: on the first day, we heard some explosive testimony from
• 9:06
  S2: a person known as complainant J. So can you just
• 9:09
  S2: tell us about who he is and the account that
• 9:11
  S2: he gave of his allegations against Ellen Jones?
• 9:14
  S3: Yes. So complainant J was the only person that we
• 9:17
  S3: heard from in terms of testimony yesterday. We heard the
• 9:20
  S3: opening addresses from the Crown and Defence, and then we
• 9:23
  S3: moved on to complainant J who was halfway through his
• 9:26
  S3: evidence at the moment. So nine of the 22 allegations
• 9:29
  S3: against Jones relate to complainant J. He was a young
• 9:32
  S3: athlete at the time. He told the court that he
• 9:35
  S3: was 14 or 15 when he met Jones, after the
• 9:38
  S3: two GB hosts reached out to him to interview him
• 9:40
  S3: about a sporting achievement. Now the alleged offences began some
• 9:43
  S3: years later when he was in year 12. Jones allegedly
• 9:47
  S3: lavished gifts today, including a car and a mobile phone,
• 9:51
  S3: before indecently assaulting him several times and paying him hundreds
• 9:54
  S3: of dollars a week. Jones allegedly kissed and touched complainant
• 9:58
  S3: J in his harborside apartment at his Fitzroy Falls farm
• 10:02
  S3: and inside a car while the young man was driving. Now,
• 10:05
  S3: when the young man was explaining this allegation of being
• 10:09
  S3: indecently assaulted inside Jones's car while they were driving to
• 10:13
  S3: his farm, it was it was, I would say, quite explosive.
• 10:17
  S3: I mean, he was alleging that the assault caused him
• 10:21
  S3: to veer off the road, which I imagine would have
• 10:24
  S3: been quite scary. Now the man described conflicting feelings of
• 10:28
  S3: fear towards Jones, but also gratitude for his support. He
• 10:32
  S3: came from quite a difficult upbringing, and he hadn't had
• 10:36
  S3: a mobile phone before, and he was gifted a car,
• 10:39
  S3: and he obviously appreciated these gifts. But at the same time,
• 10:44
  S3: he was fearful of Jones and his power and he
• 10:47
  S3: was fearful to speak out. And so.
• 10:50
  S8: I guess, what can we expect.
• 10:51
  S2: From the rest of the trial, and who else are
• 10:53
  S2: we expecting to hear from.
• 10:55
  S3: With this local court trial, which is actually expected to
• 10:58
  S3: last until close to Christmas. It's not really known how
• 11:02
  S3: it will all fold out. Now we know we have
• 11:04
  S3: several months of evidence. We know there are more than
• 11:06
  S3: 70 witnesses that are expected to be called, but the
• 11:09
  S3: order of those witnesses is unclear at the moment. As
• 11:13
  S3: I said, we're halfway through day's evidence, so he will
• 11:16
  S3: be cross-examined by the defense when he finishes his evidence
• 11:19
  S3: in chief. And then the Crown will continue to call
• 11:22
  S3: different witnesses, and then it will move on to the
• 11:25
  S3: defense's case.
• 11:27
  S8: And just to wrap up, Claire, this.
• 11:28
  S2: Is a judge only trial. So is that unusual? And
• 11:32
  S2: I guess what does that mean, if anything, for Alan Jones?
• 11:35
  S3: It is quite unusual for a trial of this type
• 11:38
  S3: and length to be held in a lower local court.
• 11:41
  S3: What it means is that Jones will not be facing
• 11:44
  S3: a jury, as he probably would have done in a
• 11:47
  S3: higher court, and instead will face local court judge Glen Walsh,
• 11:51
  S3: who will decide his fate. Now the decision for the
• 11:54
  S3: Crown to prosecute in the lower court was able to
• 11:57
  S3: be made, because some of the more serious features of
• 12:00
  S3: some of the charges were withdrawn, meaning the charges were
• 12:04
  S3: low enough in legal terms, of course, to be held
• 12:07
  S3: in the local court. Now, Judge Walsh will decide whether
• 12:11
  S3: the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Jones is
• 12:15
  S3: guilty on each offence. So remember, he has to make
• 12:18
  S3: a decision on each of the 22 offences and then
• 12:22
  S3: later down the track, he will decide any sentence in
• 12:25
  S3: the event of a conviction.
• 12:27
  S2: Well, thank you so much, Clare for your time.
• 12:30
  S3: Thank you so much for having me. It was great
• 12:32
  S3: to chat.
• 12:40
  S1: In other news, Qantas is considering outsourcing up to 1000
• 12:44
  S1: roles to India as part of a deal with consulting
• 12:47
  S1: giant Accenture that looks to harness the power of artificial intelligence.
• 12:52
  S1: Gambling industry representatives have rejected explosive claims about addicts being
• 12:57
  S1: offered drugs and escorts through company VIP programs. At the
• 13:01
  S1: Senate inquiry probing the Albanese government's proposed gambling reform and
• 13:06
  S1: rising Liberal star Andrew Hastie says he hopes to receive
• 13:09
  S1: One Nation preferences at the next election after acknowledging his
• 13:13
  S1: own political mortality, despite previously vowing to never bend the
• 13:18
  S1: knee to Pauline Hanson. You can read more at the
• 13:21
  S1: age.com.au or smh.com.au. Today's episode was produced by Kai Wong.
• 13:29
  S1: Our executive producer is Tammy Mills, and our podcasts are
• 13:32
  S1: overseen by Lisa Muxworthy and Tom McKendrick. If you like
• 13:36
  S1: our show, follow The Morning Edition and leave a review
• 13:39
  S1: for us on Apple or Spotify. Thanks for listening.