COLOMBO : Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka is being moved to Sydney’s Silverwater Prison, after being refused bail on rape charges, foreign media reported on Monday.
He was arrested by the Sydney Police Department for an alleged sexual assault case and was presented in front of a Sydney court on Monday as the cricketer sought bail from the court in the case.
Gunathilaka was on Monday denied bail by a local court in Sydney after being charged with sexual assault of a woman while his country’s cricket board suspended him from all forms of the game with immediate effect.
The 31-year-old Gunathilaka, who was arrested in the wee hours of Sunday ahead of the Sri Lankan team’s departure from Australia, attended the hearing via video link in Downing Centre Local Court from Surry Hills cells.
Gunathilaka was handcuffed and wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans during his virtual attendance at the hearing, according to a report in ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.
His lawyer Mr. Ananda Amaranath made a bail application during the “closed court” hearing and magistrate Robert Williams refused it.
“Certainly, we are considering an application to the Supreme Court and that will be done as soon as possible,” Mr. Amaranth was quoted as saying in the report.
The Sri Lankan team had left Australia without Gunathilaka after being eliminated from the T20 World Cup on Saturday.
Amaranath said he understood “some team officials remained in the country”.
Interim suppression orders were made and there will be a further hearing on Wednesday to determine their continuation.
The bail application was heard in closed court and about a dozen reporters waited in the corridor for news of the outcome. Magistrate Robert Williams refused bail and the case was adjourned to January 12, a period of nine-and-a-half weeks.
Although Sri Lanka Cricket had initially taken a firm decision to distance themselves from the embarrassing incident, the board was allegedly told by a VVIP politician from SLPP to bear the players’ legal costs. Another prominent politician, formerly with SJB, is believed to have helped out with the Sydney address to appeal for bail. However, a source close to the player said that a famous cricket fan had intervened to get a Sydney address of a Sri Lankan living in Australia.
The board yesterday suspended Gunathilaka. This is the fourth time he had been suspended by SLC. His most recent suspension was last year when he breached the bio bubble in the UK. He was sent home from the tour along with two other players. Although he was handed a suspension of one year, it was later reduced to six months. He was advised to seek counseling.
On previous occasions that he had been suspended, there have been interventions from higher-ups to go soft on the player.
Sources in Australia told The Island that if proven guilty, Gunathilaka faces a lengthy jail sentence, a minimum of six years.
-With Agencies and the Island Inputs
