Alan Jones Trial Narrows as Prosecutors Withdraw One Complainant's Case
Prosecutors withdrew the allegation by complainant F from Alan Jones's trial in Sydney on 21 September 2026, leaving five alleged victims in the case. The Guardian
The withdrawn count alleged Jones touched and squeezed F's bottom, outside clothing, at a public function in September 2012. The prosecution withdrew it in court and the count was dismissed. Jones, the former 2UE and 2GB radio broadcaster who was 85 when the trial began in August 2026, still faces 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching, terms that cover non-consensual touching of a sexual nature. He denies all charges. The trial was in its eighth week before Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on 21 September 2026.
This follows earlier reductions. In July 2026, two complainants accounting for four charges of indecent assault dropped out, after which Jones faced 22 charges involving six alleged victims. The Sydney Morning Herald He still faced 22 charges when the trial opened in early August. On 2 June 2026, prosecutors dropped a separate sexual misconduct charge linked to Tamworth, New South Wales, where Jones allegedly grabbed a complainant's bottom.
The F withdrawal came alongside disputed evidence about complainant M. Four people who attended the relevant sports function said they did not see Jones kiss M or see anything untoward. M, a prominent athlete, gave evidence in Sydney. ABC
Judge Glenn Walsh said defence-called witnesses who could not remember seeing Jones or the complainant at the event were of "little assistance" to the court. The remark was about weight, not admissibility — about how useful the evidence is, not whether it can be heard. It separates clear evidence that nothing happened from an absence of memory.
The defence has described the indecent assault allegations as a 'concoction'. Jones's lawyers have challenged the evidence of several witnesses in a prosecution case once described as involving about 100 witnesses. The court was also told that complainant J's mother asked her son whether Jones had ever touched him.
The broader context here is that historic allegation cases often turn on credibility, memory and corroboration. Withdrawals narrow the issues for the magistrate, the judicial officer deciding the case, but they do not settle the remaining counts. Points to watch are how the court treats delayed complaint, the absence of corroborating observation at crowded public events, and prior consistent statements within families. The defence focus on witnesses who saw nothing untoward tests the limits of negative evidence, a point Walsh has already addressed in restrained terms.
Looking at what this means for the weeks ahead, the arithmetic tells only part of the story. The pool at one stage included a tenth alleged victim. The prosecution must now prove 21 charges involving five complainants beyond reasonable doubt, the high criminal standard, on the evidence that remains. Acquittal on one account does not determine the others. Any conviction will rest on separate assessments of each complainant.
