'Twitching and eyes rolling back': Shocking claims about teen girls who had a threesome with tradie, 32, on a Schoolies cruise in sex romp that sparked false accusations of rape - and saw him locked in a cabin for six days
- Daniel Rawlings, 32, is suing Carnival Cruises over a false rape allegation
- He was wrongly accused of rape following a threesome on Explorer of the Seas
- The alleged victim fell ill during that encounter with Rawlings, court has heard
- Now a separate incident has come to light of an earlier sordid encounter
A teenage girl fell so ill after heading back to a tradesman's room for sex that she was 'twitching with her eyes rolling back into her head', it has been claimed in court.
And the next evening, a second female passenger on the Carnival Cruise ship Explorer of the Seas likewise became sick during a threesome with the same couple, before being found 'naked and disorientated'.
Cruise authorities then detained Daniel Rawlings, 32, on the ship for the final six days of his 10 day South Pacific cruise, amid a false allegation he raped the ill threesome participant.
Details of the earlier incident emerged at the NSW District Court for the first time on Monday as he sues the cruise ship company for $400,000 in damages over his November 2017 Schoolies Week detention.
Rawlings's best friend and cabin-mate, Matthew Champion, and one of his tearful cruise ship flames gave evidence.
Daniel Rawlings (right) with his friend Matthew Champion (left), claims he was wrongfully detained and is now suing Royal Caribbean for $400,000
Mr Rawlings, 32, (left and right) is a successful air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic. He was held prisoner for six days over a false rape claim while on board a cruise ship
The tradesman was held in detention for most of his 10 day Explorer of the Seas cruise (above, in Sydney Harbour). He was never charged with any offences
The woman told the court she had 'sexual activity' with Rawlings after drinking through the evening of November 13, 2017.
She had guzzled a vodka Red Bull and fallen ill while in Rawlings' room.
Rawlings called the ship's medical staff and a doctor asked the woman if she had taken drugs, or recalled being drugged, the court heard. She did not.
The woman burst into tears while giving evidence.
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Rawlings's best friend, Matthew Champion, told the court he was 'chalk and cheese' with Rawlings during the trip.
Mr Champion was 'low key', having learned his partner was pregnant with their first child.
During cross examination from defence lawyer James Sheller, Mr Champion told the court Rawlings had roused him the evening of the first incident and was 'very worried', so much so he called the ship's nurse.
'I'd say it was alarming because Daniel was very worried,' Mr Champion said. 'Me, I'd just woken from my sleep it seemed serious but not over the top.'
Mr Champion repeatedly said he 'did not recall' if Rawlings had told him there was something wrong with the girl, if he had asked him whether she took drugs, or if Rawlings had just said she had been drinking.
'Do you remember going over to the young woman and seeing that she was twitching and her eyes were rolling back in her head?' Mr Sheller asked him.
'I can remember her twitching, I can't remember her eyes rolling back into her head,' Mr Champion said.
After he was shown a police statement he had given, Mr Champion said the incident on the next night was more 'prevailing in my memory'.
That was where the other woman fell ill after a threesome with Rawlings and the other woman in the mates' cabin.
Mr Rawlings is pictured on an evening out with with Mr Champion (right) and a third friend
Police boarded the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship when it docked at Circular Quay in November 2016 and questioned Rawlings over the threesome incident. No charges were laid
Mr Rawlings was travelling from Sydney to Vanuatu at the time. Above, an island near Port Vila
Mr Champion told the court on the night of November 14 to 15, he was woken up by Rawlings and the two women returning to the room and giggling.
He told the court he stormed off with a pillow and blankets and slept on a sunbed on the top of the ship.
He was 'annoyed' he had been woken for a second night in a row and did not return until after sunrise.
During Rawlings' threesome, court documents state that the third participant in the encounter fell sick and cleaned herself up in the bathroom.
Defence documents said the woman was later found 'naked, intoxicated and disorientated' elsewhere on the ship and was taken to the medical centre.
There, officials classified what was happened as 'sexual assault'.
On Monday Mr Champion told the court when he returned after sunrise, he found the two single beds in his room had been pushed together by the trio.
He then went to sleep on the floor, he said.
Security guards later banged on the door and took the mates away, placing a padlock on the outside of their old cabin.
Rawlings was detained for six days until the ship returned to Sydney, where he was questioned by detectives. He was never charged with any offence.
The hearings continue in front of Judge John Hatzistergos.
