M told Alan Jones’s trial in Sydney that Jones kissed him on the side of his mouth at a public event and later sent messages saying, "I would like to be kissing you all night". He said the encounter left him shocked, embarrassed and in disbelief.
The evidence came in the seventh week of the case at the Downing Centre. M is the third alleged victim to give evidence in proceedings that involve 22 charges against Jones, who has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
Downing Centre hears M
M said the kiss happened in a public setting and that he did not consent to being kissed that way. He told the court, "I was shocked and embarrassed and I knew I did not want to be there," and added, "I’m not certain, but I think I froze at that time," before saying, "I was in disbelief of where this was happening, and I didn’t understand why it was happening, and there’s no reason to suggest why in this public situation you’d kiss someone this way."
He also described the messages he said Jones sent later, including "I love you darling", "big big kisses" and "I am in love with you too". One text read in court said, "I love the photo. I love you. I want to kiss you for hours." M said that after the dinner Jones texted him, "I would like to be kissing you all night".
Macquarie Street in Circular Quay
M said his contact with Jones stretched back years. He said Jones had sent him a weekly bouquet of flowers after he complimented flowers on Jones’s dining table, and that Jones’s driver dropped the flowers at his home every week. He said Jones had interviewed him several times when he was a teenage athlete, and that their relationship later became a friendship that included visits to Jones’s apartment at Macquarie Street in Circular Quay for meals.
The case against Jones is being tested count by count. M’s evidence goes to two of the 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching, and his account adds a third complainant’s evidence to a trial that is already in its seventh week.
