Australian woman tells court she didn’t ask questions when her British boyfriend told her he had left a Bali police officer ‘passed out’ on Kuta beach

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Australian woman Sara Connor has told a Bali court she didn’t ask any further questions when her British boyfriend told her he had left a police officer “passed out” on Kuta beach following a violent scuffle.

Almost a week after David Taylor gave evidence at her trial, Connor was brought into Denpasar court on Monday to tell her version of what happened the night they are accused of killing Wayan Sudarsa on 16 August last year.

She said she lost her purse on Kuta beach and that during the search she turned around to find Taylor on top of a man.

While trying to separate them, she alleged Sudarsa bit her and pulled her hair. Crying, she left the men and continued the search, before running onto the street.

When Taylor eventually joined her, he was “covered in sand”. “I asked him, ‘What happened to the guy?’ He said to me, ‘He is just passed out’,” Connor told the court.

When asked what Taylor had told her about how the police officer had become unconscious, she replied: “I didn’t ask him any more.”

“He told me that they were fighting and he [Taylor] thought he was going to die because he [Sudarsa] had his elbow on his throat … When he told me that he [Sudarsa] bit his finger nearly off, I said to him [Taylor], ‘He bit me too’.

“I just told him my part of the story … I trust David, he is a calm, quiet guy.”

It was not until two days later when she turned on her mobile and saw messages from friends that she learned someone had been seriously hurt.

They told her to go to the Australian consulate as her wallet had been found near a body, Connor said. “When I got to know a person had died, we were crying,” Connor said.

In the hours and days after Sudarsa’s death, the court has heard the pair burned their clothes, disposed of Sudarsa’s mobile phone and cut up his credit cards.

Sara Connor changed story on death of Bali policeman, court hears Read more

When asked why she panicked if she was not guilty, Connor responded through a translator that: “I still think I’m not guilty but look where I am … If you are in my position in this country wouldn’t you be panicked?”

Connor said she still loved David, and he still loved her.

Speaking after her testimony, Taylor said the “truth was finally coming out”. “It’s not a murder case, it’s a self-defence case.”

The couple, who are being held at Kerobokan prison, face charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death. The matter returns to court later this week.