'Part of me died that day': Woman in controversial rape acquittal speaks out

The woman who accused the son of a Sydney nightclub owner of rape has gone public in an effort to promote a discussion about sexual consent laws.

Saxon Mullins wants to start a discussion about sexual consent laws. Source: Four Corners

WARNING: Graphic content.

Saxon Mullins accused Luke Lazarus of raping her in an alleyway behind a Sydney nightclub in 2013.

Last year, the NSW District Court acquitted Mr Lazarus because the judge found he had a genuine and honest belief that Ms Mullins had consented to anal sex, even though Ms Mullins "in her own mind" had not consented.

Ms Mullins was 18 and a virgin at the time. 

She's waived her legal right to anonymity and spoken to the ABC's Four Corners program about her ordeal in the hope that it will lead to reform of NSW sexual consent laws and a better understanding about the nature of consent. 

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman told Fairfax Media on Monday that Ms Mullins had started an important conversation and he would have "more to say" on the issue. 

Under the existing law, the accused must know that the victim is not consenting, which includes recklessness or having "no reasonable grounds" to believe there is consent. 

The laws vary in different states with Tasmania having the toughest laws. 

The son of a Sydney nightclub boss was found guilty in 2015 of raping Saxon Mullins, but the verdict was overturned in 2017. Source: AAP

Doubts over whether Ms Mullins had asked Mr Lazarus to stop and the fact that she did not take physical steps to move away from him were key elements of the defence.

Ms Mullins told the ABC that after Mr Lazarus led her outside the Kings Cross club through a side door, she repeatedly told him she wanted to go back and find her friend. 

Ms Mullins, now 23, said when Mr Lazarus told her to get against the wall she froze.

“I just did it. At that point, I was just kind of on autopilot a little bit. I just wanted to go. And this was kind of the quickest way I thought I could leave. I just thought, ‘Just do what he says and then you can go’,” she told the ABC.

“He had anal sex with me. It was pretty painful. And I was just trying to like, I know it doesn’t make sense, but block it out. Like just wait till it was over.”

She added: "I thought that once I left the alleyway, all the pain would go away. But it didn’t leave me for weeks … I know a part of me died that day.”

Mr Lazarus has previously said his life was "completely destroyed" when news of the accusation of sexual assault broke. 

He was initially found guilty in 2015 before the verdict was overturned last year.