Warning: This article contains graphic recounts of domestic violence.
A jury has found Australian rugby union star Kurtley Beale not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Sydney pub bathroom in December 2022.
The two-week trial heard testimonies from the complainant and witnesses. The jury was played recorded phone calls and CCTV footage from the night.
Giving evidence, the accuser, who cannot legally be named, testified that Beale barged into her toilet cubicle and forced himself on her.
According to the BBC, she told the court she had repeatedly said "no" and told Beale, "You're married, I'm engaged, we can't".
His legal team argued their encounter was consensual and the woman had lied to get sympathy from her fiancé.
It only took the jury a few hours of deliberation to find Beale not guilty of one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexual touching.
Beale, 32, hung his head in an apparent show of relief, as the verdicts were read, while his wife sobbed.
Outside court, Beale maintained his innocence.
"My family and I have suffered a terrible year, and I'm so glad that the truth has come out."
In a statement released last January, Rugby Australia said it had suspended him from all forms of rugby "with immediate effect" in line with its code of conduct and would carry out its own investigations.
Beale, who has played 90 tests for the Wallabies, last played for the international side in 2021.
