A jury has retired to deliberate in the trial of former reality TV star and Penthouse covergirl Suzi Taylor accused of extorting money from a sex client who refused to pay.
Taylor and Ali Ebrahimi are accused of extortion, deprivation of liberty, fraud and assault of the client at an apartment in inner-city Brisbane on October 30, 2019.
During four days of evidence, the District Court jury heard the former Block contestant was posing as an escort called Katie when she agreed to meet David Butler through the raunchy website Scarlet Blue.
The night allegedly ended with Mr Butler tied up and held against his will, and Ebrahimi allegedly acting as enforcer, prosecutor Ben Jackson said in his closing statement.
Taylor, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, and Mr Butler met up after agreeing to a payment of $250 for half an hour of Katie's time. He arrived at the New Farm apartment with a bottle of champagne and red wine.
They first relaxed over drinks, but when the 30 minutes became an hour, then two, Taylor started getting text messages from Ebrahimi saying: "Get paid if you haven't."
Mr Butler claimed Taylor invited him into her bedroom, kissed him and took off her shirt before saying: "If you want this to continue and go any further, you have to give me some money."
When he refused to pay Ebrahimi allegedly stormed into the bedroom, grabbed Mr Butler by the throat and started to hit him.
The court heard Ebrahimi allegedly withdrew money from a nearby automatic teller machine using Mr Butler's bank card.
But Mr Butler admitted to the court he had lied to police and the court.
Mr Jackson told the jury on Tuesday Mr Butler was "simply unwilling to be upfront and forthcoming that he went to pay for an escort service" because he was embarrassed and ashamed.
"He didn't tell the truth, but what's important is what did he lie about," Mr Jackson added.
He said Mr Butler's evidence should be scrutinised but accepted because it was supported in many ways.
It was also "totally dishonest" to tie someone up to access money in their bank account, Mr Jackson told the jury.
Ebrahimi - who sacked his defence team partway through the trial, electing to represent himself - asked whether it was ever excusable to lie to police.
He called on the jury to consider its verdict carefully because "injustice can be devastating to families".
Taylor's defence barrister James Benjamin said Taylor is a figure of public interest, but the prosecution case "rises and falls on the credibility" of Mr Butler.
Australian Associated Press
