A nurse who cared for Michael Schumacher has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by racing driver Joey Mawson and woke up in pain on blood-stained bedsheets.
The Australian driver went on trial on Tuesday in Nyon, Switzerland, over the alleged incident. Mawson, who strongly denies the allegations and has stated that the sex was consensual, is said to have sexually assaulted the nurse twice in a bedroom at Schumacher’s mansion in Gland, near Geneva, per The Mail.
During the trial, the court heard that Mawson spent the evening with several of Schumacher’s employees, where the nurse consumed alcohol. The indictment states she became so intoxicated she was unable to stand and was carried to her room, fully clothed, by staff.
When the nurse woke up she was naked, and allegedly could not remember what had happened. Prosecutors allege that the assault later took place in that room.
The nurse told the court she sought assurances from a fellow employee about the evening’s event and that they had sent Mawson to check on her.
Mawson explained in court that he had spent the night at the nurse’s apartment and remained there because he “didn’t want the employees to know about the intimate moment we had together”.
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He added: “I hadn’t realised how drunk I actually was. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realised how drunk I had been. During the night, I had assumed she was less drunk than I realised the next morning.”
Mawson went on to say: “She was not intoxicated, she was alert and conscious, she was flirting and she managed to get her leg on the pool table. You could see from her body language she was being flirtatious. I knocked on her room and she invited me in.”
The Australian told the court that when he learnt of the allegations against him, he texted the nurse and apologised. When asked by trial judge Patricia Cornaz why he had done so, he replied: “Because I was overwhelmed by the accusations against me. It was the gentlemanly thing to do but I had done nothing wrong.”
In his closing argument prosecutor Xavier Christe highlighted differences in Mawson’s testimony from earlier statements he had given to investigators. He also referred to discrepancies in Mawson’s testimony, where he initially said condoms had been used during consensual sex but then said no protection was used.
View 2 ImagesThe nurse had been caring for Michael Schumacher(Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Mawson is a close friend of Schumacher’s son, Mick, 26, and also a driver who spent time in Formula 1 with Haas and as the Mercedes reserve driver. He frequently stayed with the Schumacher family between races to avoid long return flights to Australia.
The nurse was asked to recall what happened to her and, as she broke down in tears, told the court: “That night I had been working six days non stop. I was very tired and I had had nothing to eat.
“When I later asked Joey if anything had happened that night, he said ‘Yes’. I contacted my doctor and I was then referred to another doctor at the university hospital. I didn’t immediately tell the Schumacher family what had happened. I couldn’t remember anything from the night, I had to ask one of the other staff at the house.
“They said I was drunk and that Joey had carried me to my room, I woke up naked and when I first contacted Joey to ask him if anything had happened he said ‘No’ but then later said ‘Yes’.”
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The complainant was part of a medical team providing assistance to Schumacher, the seven-time F1 champion, who has not been seen in public since a 2013 ski accident.
The court heard that the woman had been fired from the Schumacher residence years earlier and had later started a grievance complaint. The nurse belonged to their “inner circle of trust”, according to her lawyer, Patrick Michod.
No members of the Schumacher family are implicated in the allegations. According to the indictment, none were present at the time of the events and were not listed as witnesses in the case at the Nyon District Court.