Wallabies coach warns Beale to take care
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has warned Kurtley Beale to steer clear of potentially sticky situations after the fullback was cleared of assaulting a family member on Monday.
Beale was accused of putting his 17-year-old cousin in a headlock and punching her four times during a party in Sydney last July.
But Mt Druitt Magistrate Glenn Bartley said there was "reasonable doubt" about the accusation due to the absence of injury to the teenage cousin, who had admitted drinking half a carton of beer and half a bottle of bourbon that night.
Beale said he was relieved to be cleared of any wrongdoing and Deans hoped his charge had learnt from the experience.
"I've got no doubt he'll be a lot more buoyant now and a lot wiser for the experience," Deans said in Perth on Monday.
"And hopefully he'll never find himself in that circumstance again and never put himself in a position of potential compromise again.
"He's been pretty good (through the whole experience).
"He's a very positive sort of bloke.
"It's not the sort of thing you want hanging over you.
"It's taken an awfully long time to go through the system, as these things tend to.
"But he's been found not guilty, which is obviously good for him and it's good for us."
Giving evidence at the Sydney hearing on Monday, 21-year-old Beale admitted swearing at a group of female relatives who had been verbally abusing his then girlfriend but he denied assaulting his cousin.
"You deny that you had her in a headlock and you deny that you punched her four times to the head, you deny that?" police prosecutor Sergeant David Howard asked.
"Yes I do," Beale replied.
Beale's stepfather Bob Smith said he escorted the footballer and his girlfriend out of the party after the group hurled abuse and threatened a fight in a carpark.
Mr Smith said he had Beale in his sight the whole time and didn't see him approach his cousin or assault her.
The magistrate said Mr Smith's evidence had been "spontaneous, credible and reliable" and found Beale not guilty of one count of common assault.
Outside court, Beale said he was happy the case was over.
"I always said that I was not guilty from the start, like I said (I'm) just very relieved and very happy that I can concentrate on my football," he told reporters.
Beale played a starring role in Saturday's 49-3 demolition of Fiji in Canberra and is expected to again be named at fullback for Saturday's Test against England in Perth.
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