MICHAEL Schumacher’s nurse woke up on blood-stained bed sheets after being raped by a former friend of the F1 legend’s son, a court heard today.
Aussie driver Joey Mawson, 30, is accused of raping the unconscious woman after a cocktail party at the family mansion in Gland, Switzerland, in 2019.
Mawson strongly denies the allegations, claiming their relationship was close and consensual – and that they had previously shared a kiss at a Geneva nightclub.
Schumacher’s nurse denied any such close relationship.
Both she and Mawson are currently at the trial in Nyon, Switzerland, but no member of the Schumacher family will be present.
None of the Schumachers are implicated in the case or were at the house during the alleged offence.
On the night of November 23, 2019, Mawson was staying at the sprawling mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, court documents allege.
He was playing pool in the billiard room with two other members of the stricken racing icon’s staff when the alleged victim joined them after a tiring shift, the indictment states.
The nurse began to feel unwell after a few drinks and needed to lie on the floor before being taken to bed by some of her colleagues, it is claimed.
Speaking to the court, the alleged victim said: “It was my sixth consecutive workday. I hadn’t had time to eat and was tired. At some point, I was relieved.”
They laid the nurse down “without undressing her” and left her, asleep, with the lights on, the indictment claims.
It was shortly afterwards that the driver returned to the room and twice raped her while she was unconscious, the files allege.
Neither of the other two medics who were there that evening say they saw or heard anything, and the nurse herself woke up with no memory of the night’s events.
She told the court: “[One of the medics] told me I was completely drunk and that they, along with Joey, had carried me upstairs.
“I asked him if I had gone to bed naked, because I had woken up naked. He said he had left the light on because he was worried.
“Because I had been unconscious, he had asked Joey to check on me. When I asked him if anything had happened, he said ‘no’.”
Blood was later found on the bedding, according to court docs, and the nurse had injuries consistent with her being restrained by force.
She immediately rushed to hospital for comprehensive medical examinations.
These included HIV and other sexually transmitted disease tests, and the plaintiff also contacted her health insurance company.
Shocking presented at trial shows a recording of the nurse’s bare buttocks taken by Mawson in a separate incident that appears to have been used in his defence.
Court evidence shows that Mawson texted her apologetically in the aftermath, writing: “I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I’m so sorry for the pain I’m causing you.
Mawson explained: “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.”
It is understood that the nurse decided against pursuing criminal charges or informing the Schumacher family until 2022.
In October 2020, less than a year after the alleged rape, she was fired from the medical team.
F1 hero Michael – who won seven world championships and 91 races – is believed to require constant care following his tragic 2013 skiing accident.
Mawson was once a rising star of the racing world who dreamed of F1 before his form plateaued and he returned to Australia.
He was a close friend and rival of Schumacher’s son Mick – and raced against other future racing icons such as Lando Norris and George Russell.
A trial was scheduled for this week and a one-and-a-half-page indictment was drawn up by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the District of La Côte.
But Mawson, a double champion of the Australian S5000 and currently banned from racing over a doping scandal, failed to appear in court in October.
In his absence, the rape trial was formally opened, but then adjourned to “a date to be fixed”.
Patrick Michod, the alleged victim’s lawyer, described his absence as “regrettable, cowardly”, reports Bild.
Mawson’s lawyer Luc Vaney defended the racing driver’s absence.
He said: ” What happened […] is within his rights: Article 366 of the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure allows for a one-time absence.
“The next time would be the last—he would then be convicted in absentia.”
Switzerland does have an extradition treaty in force with Australia.
