Joey Mawson denies rape charge in Swiss trial

Australian racing driver Joey Mawson is on trial in Nyon, Switzerland, accused of raping a nurse from Michael Schumacher’s care team twice at the Schumacher family’s Gland mansion in November 2019, allegations he denies by insisting the sex was consensual.

Prosecutors told the District Court of Nyon that the case began after a staff gathering at the residence, where the nurse drank alcohol, became so unwell she could not stand, and had to be carried to her room fully clothed by colleagues. According to the prosecution case, she was left in bed with the lights on and later woke with no memory of what had happened during the night. One account presented in reporting on the hearing said she woke up “between blood-soaked sheets.” Prosecutors allege Mawson returned to the room shortly afterward and raped her twice while she was unconscious.

Mawson, 30, rejected that account in court. He said the nurse “was not intoxicated, she was alert and conscious, she was flirting and she managed to get her leg on the pool table.” He added: “I knocked on her room and she invited me in.” Mawson also told the court he stayed the night at her apartment because he “didn’t want the employees to know about the intimate moment we had together.”

The sharpest dispute in the case is over the nurse’s condition and Mawson’s recollection of the night. Mawson said he had not realized how drunk he was until the next morning, while still maintaining that the nurse was conscious throughout their interaction. Prosecutor Xavier Christe told the court that Mawson’s testimony conflicted with earlier statements to investigators and pointed to contradictions in his account of whether condoms had been used.

Asked about a text message in which he apologized to the nurse after learning of the allegations, Mawson said the message was not an admission. Under questioning from trial judge Patricia Cornaz, he answered: “Because I was overwhelmed by the accusations against me. It was the gentlemanly thing to do but I had done nothing wrong.”

The court heard that the woman was part of the medical team caring for seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, who has not been seen publicly since his 2013 skiing accident. The indictment says no Schumacher family members were present at the time of the alleged events, none are implicated in the case, and no family member was listed as a witness.