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James Rothwell
Berlin: An Australian racing driver has gone on trial in Switzerland, accused of raping a nurse who was caring for Michael Schumacher, the former F1 champion.
Joey Mawson, 30, is accused of raping the nurse in 2019 while he was staying at a villa owned by Schumacher in Gland, near Geneva.
On Tuesday (Switzerland time), a court in Nyon heard that the alleged victim had woken up in a bedroom in the villa to find herself lying on blood-stained sheets, but allegedly could not recall what had happened.
The nurse told the court she asked a colleague, who said she had been carried up to the room the night before because she was heavily intoxicated.
Mawson is then alleged to have gone into the bedroom and committed two counts of rape. He denies the charges.
Speaking in court, Mawson said in comments reported by The Daily Mail that he and the nurse had consensual sex and that he was heavily intoxicated.
“I hadn’t realised how drunk I actually was. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realised how drunk I had been. During the night, I had assumed she was less drunk than I realised the next morning,” he said.
“She was not intoxicated, she was alert and conscious, she was flirting and she managed to get her leg on the pool table. You could see from her body language she was being flirtatious. I knocked on her room and she invited me in.”
After learning of the nurse’s allegations, the court heard that he sent a series of text messages to the woman, which included an apology to her. “I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I’m so sorry for the pain I’m causing you,” he allegedly wrote, in comments reported by The Sun.
When asked by the court judge why he did this, the defendant said he felt it was the “gentlemanly” thing to do but insisted he had done nothing wrong.
The nurse, who has not been identified in the case, was caring for Schumacher, who was catastrophically injured in a skiing accident in 2013. He requires around-the-clock care.
Mawson is said to be a friend of Schumacher’s son, Mick Schumacher, 27, also a Formula 1 driver, with the pair competing against each other previously in their careers. No members of the Schumacher family have been implicated in the rape case.
According to The Sun, on the night of the alleged rapes, Mawson was playing pool at the Schumacher mansion near Lake Geneva when the alleged victim joined him, having finished her care shift.
The nurse began to feel unwell after a few drinks and needed to lie on the floor before being taken to her bedroom by colleagues.
When she was examined after the alleged rapes, court documents say, she was found to have injuries consistent with being restrained by force, the court heard.
The trial continues.
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