But the 31-year-old denied he pressed himself against her in the kitchen or repeatedly groped her bottom,and said he left when he “could tell she was a bit uncomfortable”.
George Burgess (right) arrives at court on Monday with his lawyer Bryan Wrench.Kate Geraghty
Burgess has pleaded not guilty to sexually touching another person without consent after allegedly repeatedly squeezing the woman’s bottom on March 8,2022. He was married at the time.
The court has heard the woman,who had known Burgess for some time,contacted him and two of his brothers seeking signed football club jerseys for charity.
The complainant that she was left feeling “violated” after Burgess arrived at her house with a Dragons jersey and allegedly “leaned in and tried to kiss” her,grabbed her on the bottom,put an arm on either side of her on the kitchen bench and “pressed himself up against me”,and also “put his arms around me to hug me and grabbed both my butt cheeks”.
In the witness box at his hearing in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday,Burgess said he had hugged the woman at the door,and then she went to make them tea.
The Englishman said he “sort of came behind her” in the kitchen and put his right hand on her lower back to see whether she was using “Yorkshire tea”.
“At that point,your intention was to try and be intimate with her?” police prosecutor Adrian Walsh asked.
“Yes,” Burgess replied.
“Your intention was to deliver the jersey and see if you could have sex with[the woman]?” Walsh asked.
“No,” Burgess said.
He said he placed his hand on her lower back “just to be friendly”.
“You don’t do that to all your female friends,do you?” Walsh asked.
“Most of them,” Burgess replied.
“You just walk up and randomly place your hand on their lower back?” the prosecutor asked.
“If they invited me into their house for a cup of tea,” Burgess said.
The incident allegedly took place after George Burgess arrived at the complainant’s home with a Dragons jersey for charity.Getty
Burgess said the woman had asked if he was married,and he replied,“Yes,but you know how it is”. He said he sat next to the woman on the couch and asked for a cuddle.
“I was being cheeky,I was being friendly … it was nothing more than that,” Burgess said.
“I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable,so I got up ... to walk towards the door.”
The former NRL player denied he had put his hand down his pants. He agreed during the encounter he suggested the woman take off her jumper and that he had said to her,“stay and be naughty with me” and “nothing’s ever happened between us,but something should”.
Burgess said he joked he would see the woman “in another 10 years or next time you need a jersey” and went home. The court heard Burgess sent the woman a “horny devil emoji” on Snapchat after he left.
“It was an acknowledgement of the fact that I’d been a bit cheeky,been a bit flirty,” he said.
Burgess was taken to a message from the woman the next day levelling the allegations against him,which he said left him “gutted” and shocked. He sent an apology in reply.
“At no point did you deny sexually touching her or grabbing her on the arse,” the prosecutor said.
“At no point did I admit it either,” Burgess replied.
He agreed under questioning by his lawyer Bryan Wrench that he had “some romantic interest” in the woman at the time and “made a form of an advance to her”.
However,he denied he had tried to kiss the woman or ever grabbed her on the bottom.
Burgess accepted the prosecutor’s suggestion the woman rejected his advances from the moment he walked in the door,and said he was “100 per cent” sorry for those advances.
Woman bursts from court in tears
Earlier,the woman’s close friend gave evidence she called him after Burgess was at her home and “sounded a little bit unlike” her bubbly and talkative self.
The man said the complainant told him Burgess “essentially tried to make a move on me” and had been “locking her in between the[kitchen] bench with both arms on either side of her”.
At this point,the complainant,seated in the front row of the public gallery,stood up and wailed before leaving the courtroom.
The friend continued that the woman told him she had “ducked under” Burgess’ arm “to get away”,and “tried to use work as an excuse to get him to leave,which he eventually did”.
He said the woman was “shaken up,unsure of what had just happened and how to process it”.
“I said if something happened that was a little bit uncouth that she should report it … to police,” he said. “It didn’t sound like a consensual interaction.”
Burgess’ lawyer said they were relying on his client’s prior good character,as Burgess did not have any dishonesty or sexual offences on his record.
The incident occurred days before Burgess’ short-lived NRL return with St George Illawarra.
Magistrate Emma Manea will deliver her decision on May 10.
