Danushka Gunathilaka launches second bail bid

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka will be making another bid for bail, just days after details of his alleged sexual assault of a Sydney woman were revealed in court.

Less than one week after the international sportsman was refused bail in the Downing Centre Local Court, Mr Gunathilaka’s lawyers made a brief appearance in the Supreme Court on Monday after filing a fresh application.

The registrar set down a date of December 8 for the cricketer, with the hearing expected to take just half an hour.

During a bail hearing in the Local Court on November 7, a police prosecutor said there were fears the 31-year-old would flee Australia.

Allegations against the international cricketer were revealed last week after media won a fight in court in opposition to a police attempt to suppress details of the case.

The international cricket star had matched with a woman on a dating app just days before they met on November 2. Police allege the 31-year-old would go on to choke and assault the woman in her own home.

The pair spent the night in Sydney’s CBD before heading back to the woman’s house around 11pm, where police allege the woman asked to “take it slow”.

According to police allegations contained in court documents, Mr Gunathilaka “forced himself” on top of the 29-year-old woman and refused to use a condom.

According to the police statement of facts, the pair moved to a bedroom, where the woman began to feel uncomfortable, but agreed to continue with sexual activity only if Mr Gunithilaka wore a condom.

“He protested, but eventually agreed,” the documents state.

During the several hours he remained at the woman’s home, Mr Gunithilaka is accused of choking the woman multiple times and allegedly slapping her on the buttocks.

The court was told the international cricket star agreed to wear a condom, only for the woman to later find it on the floor to the side of the bed.

According to court documents, the woman was “in shock” and did not consent to any sexual activity without a condom.

Police claim the woman again asked Mr Gunithilaka to use a condom, but he allegedly refused and forcefully engaged in sexual activity.

The woman was allegedly “frozen and in shock” before the 31-year-old asked the woman to order him an Uber. He got dressed and left the woman’s house just before 1am.

The following morning, the woman woke up with sore and swollen lips and called two friends. She also contacted a counselling service and saw her doctor, and was unable to work as she “couldn’t stop crying”.

Mr Gunithilaka has not entered pleas to any charges and will remain behind bars on remand until he faces the Supreme Court on December 8.

Source: The Daily Telegraph 

--Agencies