Fashion boss was 'scary and violent' in alleged rape, trial hears

A Melbourne fashion boss who allegedly held a woman captive and violently sexually assaulted her at his Byron Bay beach villa three years ago has denied the charges on the first day of his trial in northern New South Wales.

Warning: this story contains details of alleged sexual offences.

Shmuel Tal, 49, is standing trial in Lismore District Court after pleading not guilty to 14 charges.

They relate to an alleged four-hour encounter with a sex worker at his Belongil property in November 2023.

The trial began on Wednesday, with crown prosecutor Melanie Franklin outlining the case against Mr Tal.

In her opening statement, Ms Franklin said the prosecution will prove that while the woman had gone to the house to have consensual sex with Mr Tal, she was subjected tosex acts she did not consent to, and for which the defendant knew he did not have her consent.

The prosecutor told the court a website detailing the sex worker's services would help establish that Mr Tal knew certain sex acts were off limits, including sex without a condom.

She said Mr Tal's alleged refusal to wear a condom as requested constituted a sexual assault.

Ms Franklin told the court that of the 11 sexual assault charges Mr Tal faced, two were aggravated.

Mr Tal was alleged to have sexually assaulted the woman with a chisel, and it was claimed he put a studded belt around her throat, detaining her and making her fear for her safety.

After the woman tried to leave by telling Mr Tal the agreed-upon time was up, he allegedly became angry and took $50 notes from her purse that he had given her earlier for her services.

"He grabbed her money … individually shoving it in her mouth. He said, 'Are you going to do what I want now, or am I going to lock you up for three days?'" Ms Franklin told the court.

She said videos, later found by police on Mr Tal's phone, of the woman engaged in sex acts, were filmed without her consent and would be presented as evidence.

The prosecutor told the court she will assert the woman told Mr Tal on several occasions that she did not consent to the acts but complied with his demands because she was fearful of his alleged threats to detain her for three days and scared he would assault her further.

The prosecutor said Mr Tal paid the woman $400 when she arrived at the house for one hour, and paid her a further $1,200 during the night, allegedly saying: "Now you're going to do whatever the f**k I want you to do. You will leave when I say you can leave".

The woman left the house at around 3.30am, more than four hours after arriving.

The prosecutor said the court would hear evidence that the woman told friends, other sex workers, and health workers about the events before reporting them to police.

She told the court that after the event, the woman warned other sex workers about Mr Tal online.

"(The claimant) wrote 'he seemed nice and professional at the time, before he became scary and violent,'" Ms Franklin said.

Mr Tal's solicitor, Richard Pontello, said Mr Taldisputed the woman's account of what took placeand he would argue during the trialthat all the sexual contact between the pair was fully paid for and consensual.

Mr Pontello said that of the 11 sexual acts the Crown alleges to have happened, "seven simply didn't happen at all".

The defence denied Mr Tal had pushed $50 notes in the woman's mouth, and denied he had sexually assaulted her with a chisel.

Mr Pontello said Mr Tal claims he filmed their sexual encounters with consent.

The defence evidence, he said, will contradict some of the crown's case, including that the woman's injuries did not match the blunt force trauma Mr Tal was alleged to have inflicted.

The trial continues in Lismore District Court.