One of Alan Jones’s accusers has had his allegation withdrawn, with one charge of assault with an act of indecency dramatically dropped from the former broadcaster’s trial.
The allegation, dating from 2012 and brought by a complainant pseudonymised as F, was withdrawn by the prosecution in a Sydney court on Monday afternoon.
The charge had alleged Jones touched and squeezed the complainant’s bottom, on the outside of his clothing, at a public function in September 2012.
Jones still faces 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching. He has denied all charges.
Jones’s trial, now in its eighth week before Sydney’s Downing Centre local court, has heard evidence from three complainants: C, a former radio station colleague who testified about alleged incidents at work and at a lunch; J, a young athlete supported by Jones who gave evidence about alleged assaults at Jones’s Fitzroy Falls property; and M, a high-profile former athlete who said he was kissed twice without his consent.
M, a former high-profile athlete, told the court he “froze” when publicly kissed by Alan Jones at a sports function, but four people who attended the event have told a court they did not see anything untoward.
The sports star has accused Jones of kissing him without consent more than a decade ago at a sports function attended by hundreds of people.
Testifying in the conservative broadcaster’s fight against 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent, the athlete told a Sydney court the unwanted kiss left him shocked and embarrassed.
“I think I froze at that time,” he said during his four days in the witness box.
“I was in disbelief … there’s no reason to suggest why in this public situation you’d kiss someone this way.”
But four people who attended the event have told the court they didn’t witness the alleged offence.
One attendee described Jones as “very professional” on the night in question and said he didn’t see any real engagement or familiarity between the then-radio host and the athlete.
“I didn’t see them have any contact with each other,” he testified on Monday.
“Had I seen a kiss or even an embrace, I would have noticed that.”
Another attendee told the court he didn’t have a specific recollection of the athlete being present at the event and he doesn’t believe he saw him being kissed by Jones.
He agreed he told police he hadn’t seen anything untoward at the function and he would remember if he had.
Similarly, a politician previously told the court he hadn’t seen Jones behave inappropriately towards anyone at the event.
Jones, who coached the Wallabies and Balmain Tigers before an influential broadcasting career, has denied the alleged kiss occurred and his lawyer has sought to highlight inconsistencies in the athlete’s statements about where they were positioned.
The sportsman has stood by his account, insisting: “I know the kiss happened because I can’t get it out of my memory.”
He alleged Jones kissed him without consent for a second time at his waterfront Sydney apartment years later.
The court was told the prominent broadcaster said “I love you” and pressed his genitals against the younger man’s body before being pushed off and told “OK mate”.
On Monday, Judge Glenn Walsh expressed his frustration with witnesses of limited probative value being called before court, saying people who could not remember seeing Jones or the complainant at the event were of “little assistance” to the court. The witnesses were called at the request of the defence.
Jones, now 85, is charged with one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual touching without consent against the athlete, both of which he maintains did not happen.
He has pleaded not guilty to a further 19 charges related to another four men, ranging from 2003 to the end of his influential 35-year broadcasting career.
