A former colleague of Alan Jones appeared “distraught” and “in shock” at a lunch where the veteran broadcaster sat next to him and allegedly had his hand under the table, according to another witness who attended the event.
Complainant C, the second of six male complainants who are expected to give evidence, has alleged Mr Jones touched and kissed him without consent multiple times in 2008.
Mr Jones has pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of indecent assault and two of sexual touching, and there are eight charges connected to Complainant C, who finished giving evidence on Thursday.
Alan Jones arrives at court on Friday. (ABC News: Jamie McKinnell)
Complainant C previously gave evidence about a lunch on Sydney’s lower north shore where he alleged Mr Jones sat next to him and rested his hand on the young man’s upper thigh or groin for most of the lunch.
A witness who was present at that event on Friday told the court that he saw Mr Jones swirling wine with his right hand, and that his left hand was under the table.
He recalled the reaction of two other men who were also at the lunch, who appeared “startled” and “amused”.
Asked what he observed about Complainant C, the current witness said: “He looked distraught.”
“He looked … in shock. Upset.”Sexual assault support services:
The man said he could not see what was under the table.
Previously, Complainant C testified that after the lunch, another colleague made a “joking” comment to him after the lunch that made him “deeply embarrassed”.
“[The man] said to me, ‘You copped a feel under the table didn’t you? Did you like it?'”
On Friday, the current witness recalled overhearing a comment to Complainant C that “you were copping a feel”.
He said it was from one of the two men he had observed as being amused, but could not recall which person made the comment.
‘Something bad has happened here’
At that time, the current witness said Complainant C was shaking his head and saying “unbelievable”.
“His head was down. He didn’t look up,” the witness said.
“I distinctly remember thinking ‘something bad has happened here’.”
The current witness said Complainant C appeared “absolutely devastated” as he made his way to a car and Alan Jones was patting him on the back and squeezing the back of his neck.
“He looked very, very, very upset,” the witness said.
“He kind of reared away from the touch.”
In cross-examination, defence counsel Michael Burke put to the witness that he had not mentioned seeing Mr Jones “swirling” wine in his police statement.
The witness said the more he thought about it, the clearer his memory became.
Mr Burke suggested that police had told him about the lunch incident when they first contacted him and were looking for corroboration.
“The police came to me and asked me did I ever see anything that raised concerns, and I said yes,” the witness replied.
‘Here to tell the truth’
The witness accepted that during an audio-recorded interview with Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) journalist Kate McClymont, he was asked if he “never saw him [Alan Jones] put his hand below the table?”, to which he replied “not on any of those occasions, no”.
“[You have] taken this out of context in a way, and I’ve explained that [answer to Ms McClymont] … was in relation to other people,” the witness said under questioning.
The trial heard the witness did not tell Ms McClymont that he saw Mr Jones’s hand under the table with Complainant C in Sydney’s lower north shore, because he instead spoke to the SMH journalist to corroborate alleged instances where Mr Jones made drivers feel “uncomfortable” while they were travelling with him.
“I was talking about other drivers, not [Complainant C],” the witness said.
Mr Burke suggested there was also no evidence the witness mentioned the incident involving Complainant C when he was initially contacted by police in 2024.
Defence said the witness only detailed what he allegedly saw when he gave his official statement months later, after an officer informed him that he had been identified as a witness to the alleged restaurant assault.
“Well, you weren’t there, I was,” the witness said.
“I believe that I had [told police during the initial contact].”
Mr Burke suggested if the alleged restaurant assault had occurred, the witness would have made sure he mentioned it to Ms McClymont during his interview, which he gave as an undisclosed source.
“I wasn’t going to make an allegation of a crime … to a journalist about Alan,” the witness said.
“It wasn’t deliberately misleading her.”
The trial heard Ms McClymont would be called to give evidence.
Mr Burke then accused the witness of reconstructing his version of events over time.
“No, I’m here to tell the truth,” the witness replied.
The trial, before Local Court Judge Glenn Walsh, continues.
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