- NRL star Tom Starling was cross-examined
- Gave evidence about 2020 incident in NSW bar
An NRL star says he may have brushed past a police officer’s gun holster, but is adamant he did not grip it before officers punched him repeatedly in a chaotic birthday party brawl.
Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling, 26, was allegedly set upon by police and punched in the head until he blacked out during the December 2020 incident at a bar on the NSW Central Coast.
Sergeant Evan Huw Prowse, 38, and Senior Constable Steven Lockwood Brown, 50, have pleaded not guilty to assaulting the dummy half.
Starling stated on Tuesday he did not grip onto a police officer’s gun holster before he was struck.
‘I believe I had hold of his belt (or) jacket,’ he said while being cross-examined in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
Starling described the brawl as ‘chaotic’ and said it was a natural reaction for his hand to seek a leverage to help pull himself off the floor.
NRL star Tom Starling (pictured with partner Chelsea Balzan) says he may have brushed past a police officer’s gun holster, but did not grip it before officers allegedly punched him repeatedly in a chaotic birthday party brawl
Canberra Raiders hooker Starling was allegedly set upon by police and punched in the head until he blacked out during the December 2020 incident at a NSW bar
Footage from the venue shows a brawl erupting after Starling confronted a security guard who had allegedly called their mother a ‘s**t’.
The video was played in court and Starling said the footage showed he may have brushed past the holster, but it was unclear.
‘I might have brushed past it,’ he said. ‘But I wasn’t touching it.
‘In the middle of that scuffle, I didn’t know what was happening….I wasn’t aware of my surroundings.’
Starling, his parents and two brothers had been at Shady Palms restaurant in Kincumber for a family friend’s 21st party.
The accused officers’ lawyer suggested Starling consumed numerous beers in the lead-up to the brawl, which the rugby league player denied.
Starling said he could not remember the conversation he had with paramedics who tended to him after the incident and recorded in their notes that he allegedly drank more than 12 beers.
‘It was pretty vague after the head trauma,’ he said. ‘I can’t really recall what happened after that.’
Starling described the brawl as ‘chaotic’ and said it was a natural reaction for his hand to seek leverage to help pull himself off the floor during the incident
Starling (pictured outside court) also stated he ‘couldn’t remember’ telling paramedics he had more than 12 beers on the night at Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast
Prosecutors allege the punches were thrown by Prowse and Brown, after they were called to the venue with the riot squad.
But the officers argue their response was proportional to the threat Starling posed when he put his hand on the firearm of a third officer.
Both officers remain employed by NSW Police.
Starling, who has played 116 games for the Raiders after one season with Newcastle, was initially charged over the December 5 fight.
But he was cleared in 2023 after a court found police were not acting within their duty when they punched Starling multiple times.
The 10-day hearing continues.
