Ex-racing driver sent apology messages after raping unconscious Schumacher nurse

Ex-racing driver Joey Mawson sent groveling text messages to Michael Schumacher’s nurse after raping her, a court has heard.

The former Aussie racing pro, 30, stood trial on Tuesday accused of sexually assaulting the unconscious woman at the Schumacher family home in Switzerland.

The nurse alleges that she was raped twice after a cocktail party at the F1 legend’s mansion in Gland, near Geneva, on November 23, 2019.

Mawson has vehemently denied guilt and insisted that the sex was consensual.

At trial, Mawson told the judge he slept in the woman’s room “until the early hours of the morning” so other employees would not discover their “intimate moment”.

But the nurse’s lawyer, Patrick Michod, then confronted the defendant with previously secret text messages, according to Bild.

The messages reportedly read: “I am truly sorry. I am sorry for the pain I am causing you.”

Patrick asked Mawson why he had apologized to his client if everything was consensual.

Mawson did not answer the question, but said he did not realize how much he had drunk, adding that he could not remember significant parts of the night.

He said: “It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized how drunk I had been.

“During the night, I had assumed that she was less drunk than I realized the next morning.”

Mawson allegedly sent the messages to the nurse the night after the purported rape, the lawyer claimed.

On the night of November 23, 2019, Mawson was staying at the sprawling mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, court documents allege.

He was playing pool in the billiard room with two other members of the stricken racing icon’s staff when the alleged victim joined them after a tiring shift, the indictment states.

The nurse began to feel unwell after a few drinks and needed to lie on the floor before being taken to bed by some of her colleagues, it is claimed.

Speaking to the court, the alleged victim said: “It was my sixth consecutive workday. I hadn’t had time to eat and was tired. At some point, I was relieved.”

They laid the nurse down “without undressing her” and left her, asleep, with the lights on, the indictment claims.

It was shortly afterwards that the driver returned to the room and twice raped her while she was unconscious, the files allege.

Neither of the other two medics who were there that evening say they saw or heard anything, and the nurse herself woke up with no memory of the night’s events.

She told the court: “[One of the medics] told me I was completely drunk and that they, along with Joey, had carried me upstairs.

“I asked him if I had gone to bed naked, because I had woken up naked. He said he had left the light on because he was worried.

“Because I had been unconscious, he had asked Joey to check on me. When I asked him if anything had happened, he said ‘no’.”

Blood was later found on the bedding, according to court docs, and the nurse had injuries consistent with her being restrained by force.

She immediately rushed to hospital for comprehensive medical examinations.

None of the Schumachers are implicated in the case or were at the house during the alleged offense. They will not be present at the trial.

It is understood the nurse decided against pursuing criminal charges or informing the Schumacher family until 2022.

In October 2020, less than a year after the alleged rape, she was fired from the medical team.

F1 hero Michael – who won seven world championships and 91 races – is believed to require constant care following his tragic 2013 skiing accident.

Mawson was once a rising star of the racing world who dreamed of F1 before his form plateaued and he returned to Australia.

He was a close friend and rival of Schumacher’s son Mick – and raced against other future racing icons such as Lando Norris and George Russell.