sport news Kurtley Beale's lawyer claims rape accuser had 'obvious' motive to lie and ... trends now

It took a jury just two hours to reach its verdict, rejecting the woman's account Beale forced her to perform oral sex in a toilet cubicle at Bondi's Beach Road Hotel in December 2022.

A rape case against rugby star Kurtley Beale was entirely contradicted by CCTV footage of the night and should never have been pursued, his lawyers have argued

Beale is pursuing legal costs after being found not guilty in February of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

A rape case against rugby star Kurtley Beale was entirely contradicted by CCTV footage of the night and should never have been pursued, his lawyers have argued

Beale is pursuing legal costs after being found not guilty in February of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.

The woman's story did not match up with CCTV footage which would have been clear to prosecuting authorities 'right from the start', Beale's barrister Margaret Cunneen SC told a hearing at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

'Just to read this brief and to see the CCTV is enough to say this case is doomed to fail,' she told the court.

'This isn't just a word against word case.'

The circumstances of the woman also at the time being in an argument with her fiance gave her a 'clear, obvious, pressing, immediate' motivation to lie to save her relationship, Ms Cunneen submitted.

'Her relationship had come to a very parlous point. It was the lowest point in the relationship according to the fiance,' she said.

Text messages detailing a dispute between the pair demonstrated the only way for the woman to 'spin' the story and get her fiance back on side was to make the complaint against Beale, Ms Cunneen argued.

'It works, because he goes from being completely uninterested in what she's saying to becoming sympathetic,' she said.