Former student sports star J has denied in Sydney court that he “fabricated” indecent assault allegations against broadcaster Alan Jones after losing his police job and falling on “extremely hard times”. Jones, 85, who is facing 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges, has pleaded not guilty.
The cross-examination took place on Wednesday at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court, where Jones’s defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC suggested J had a financial motive to report the alleged indecent assaults 20 years after they were said to have occurred. J had earlier told the court that Jones touched him sexually when he was a teenager, while Jones was financially supporting him at the time.
J told the court earlier this week that Jones gifted him a Nokia mobile phone, a Nissan Pulsar car and a stipend which rose from $350 to $600 a week over a nine-year period. Bashir put to him that the payments were connected to his training, competition and living expenses.
“Your evidence in relation to payments into your account from Belford [company] and the increase in payments has been you trying to assert Jones had an ulterior motive for making payments to you?”
J replied:
“No, I wasn’t trying to assert that.”
Bashir continued:
“Do you accept that those payments were for the purpose of assisting you for your training and competition and living expenses?”
J answered:
“Yes,”
The cross-examination of J could not immediately be reported because it was subject to an interim non-publication order. Judge Glenn Walsh lifted the order on Thursday afternoon, allowing the exchanges to be reported.
The court heard that J resigned from the police after he was convicted of assault and found to have breached the force’s code of conduct. Bashir said he lost his income of $120,000 a year, had to pay child support and rent, and had to move in with a relative. J denied during cross-examination that he had a gambling problem.
When the judge questioned the relevance of J’s financial problems to his complaint about the alleged indecent assaults by Jones, Bashir replied:
“A complaint like this, if successful, is a stepping stone to civil proceedings. I will be putting that to him.”
“It is an opportunity to then go on to make a claim and an opportunity to cast himself in a different light after he lost his job,”
Jones’s barrister told the court.
J said earlier this week that he decided to go to NSW police about his alleged assaults after seeing in the media that Jones had been arrested and charged in November 2024. During cross-examination on Wednesday, Bashir suggested that decision was linked to a plan to make false claims.
“You had from that moment decided to fabricate that Mr Jones sexually touched you as a young teen?”
“When you sent the email [to police] in November 2024, you did so as part of a decision to fabricate claims Jones sexually touched you as a teen?”
J replied:
“No, I wasn’t planning to fabricate anything,”
Bashir said J had not raised the alleged incidents when he was charged with drink driving in the mid-2000s, when he was charged with assault in the early 2020s, or when he was subsequently facing termination from the force. J agreed that he did not raise the allegations at those times.
Asked whether he saw Jones’s arrest as a “life changing opportunity”, J said he was not seeking financial compensation and only wanted justice.
“I’ve been clear on this,”
“I don’t want anything from this. I won’t accept [money]. I don’t want anything but proper justice in relation to this matter.”
Bashir alleged J gave police false statements about when Jones had gifted him a phone and a car. The court heard that J originally told police Jones gave him a phone when he was 14 or 15, but he was in fact 18. After being shown documents, J agreed that Jones gave him a car when he turned 18 and had left school, not when he turned 17 as he had previously told the court.
“At the time I provided the details, I thought that was accurate,”
J said on Wednesday.
Bashir suggested J’s claim that Jones increased his weekly stipend because he had “been a good boy” was also a fabrication. She said Jones increased the stipend when J had success in his sport.
“Do you accept those payments, to your knowledge, were for the purpose of assisting you with training, competition and living expenses?”
J replied:
“Yes. He did pay me to assist with training and competing … I don’t know if that was the reason for the increase in the payments,”
Bashir then said:
“It’s the case, isn’t it, that you are recasting these payments as something sinister when in fact your understanding at the time was that they were anything but?”
J answered:
“No,”
Jones has denied all wrongdoing and said the allegations were either baseless or distorted the truth. On Monday, Bashir argued that the alleged victims in the case were encouraged to complain by media rivals, and said their reliability and credibility were questionable.
What did the court hear about J’s finances?
The court heard that J lost his police job after being convicted of assault and found to have breached the force’s code of conduct. Bashir put to him that he lost his $120,000-a-year income, had to pay child support and rent, and moved in with a relative. J denied that he had a gambling problem.
Why did the defence focus on timing?
Bashir said J waited about 20 years after the alleged incidents before making his complaint and suggested he was motivated by money or civil action. She told the court that a successful complaint could be a “stepping stone to civil proceedings” and “an opportunity to cast himself in a different light after he lost his job.”
What has J said about going to police?
J said he approached NSW police after seeing media reports in November 2024 that Jones had been arrested and charged. He denied that he decided at that point to fabricate allegations, and said he was seeking justice rather than compensation.
What did the court hear about gifts and payments?
The court heard that Jones gifted J a Nokia mobile phone, a Nissan Pulsar car and weekly payments that rose from $350 to $600 over nine years. J said he believed the payments were to help with training and competing, although he did not know whether that was the reason for the increase.
Key Facts
- Alan Jones, 85, faces 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges and has pleaded not guilty.
- Former police officer J denied fabricating allegations during cross-examination in Sydney on Wednesday.
- The court heard Jones gave J a Nokia phone, a Nissan Pulsar and weekly financial support that increased over nine years.
- Judge Glenn Walsh lifted an interim non-publication order on Thursday afternoon.
- Jones has denied all wrongdoing and said the claims were baseless or distorted the truth.
