Police have obtained an audio recording from a Melbourne property which allegedly captures accounts of events being investigated as part of the sexual assault allegations involving Sydney Swans players.
New information reported by The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed sources close to the investigation said the recording was made in the days after the alleged incident at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel in the early hours of August 17.
One source said the recording contained detailed accounts from people who were inside the hotel room, which included five Sydney Swans players and also detailed how two other men had engaged three women to entertain them as topless waitresses.
A second source said the recording also contained accounts of what happened in the hotel lobby, where Swans officials, including coach Dean Cox, were seen interacting with some of the women who had earlier been in the hotel room.
Sydney Swans players Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice, Nick Blakey and James Jordon were reportedly partying with adult entertainers in a room at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne on August 17 when the alleged assaults took place.
Three other men, who police believe were in the room at the time, were interviewed solely as witnesses. Police are not looking to speak with anyone else in relation to the investigation.
No charges have been laid and it is not suggested the players were involved in any wrongdoing.
The Swans have ‘categorically’ stated none of their staff were in the hotel room and are not involved in the investigation.
Police have obtained an audio recording from a Melbourne property which allegedly captures accounts of the alleged assault at the Pullman Hotel on August 17
Sydney Swans players Chad Warner, James Jordon, Isaac Heeney and Nick Blakey were reportedly partying with adult entertainers in a room when the alleged assaults took place
The recording is expected to form an important part of the investigation
The club is refusing to comment about the investigation or the on-field future of the five players, who remain exiled from the club as they serve season-long suspensions for a ‘serious breach of expected club behaviour and standards’.
The Swans and the AFL were told only of the recording, but had no confirmation of its actual existence or knowledge of its contents.
The recording is expected to form an important part of the investigation, which police said on Wednesday could take at least another eight weeks to complete.
In that statement, Victoria Police confirmed that detectives had travelled to Sydney to speak to four of the five Swans players and that a fifth player was now a witness.
They said they had ‘now identified all parties who were in the room at the time of the alleged incident and are not looking for anyone further’.
On further claims of the recording, they said, ‘As previously advised, we’re not providing a running commentary on the investigation. There is nothing further to what was issued earlier this week.’
The Swans face the Brisbane Lions at the SCG on Saturday in a qualifying final, without the five suspended players. The winning side will advance to a preliminary final, while the loser will be forced into a sudden-death semi-final next weekend.
