Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au

Aaron Bunch
Ex-Block star alleged sex client extortion

The man reality TV contestant Suzi Taylor allegedly extorted and assaulted after a Tinder hook-up says he knew she was a prostitute but not that she was famous.

July 29, 2020

The man accusing reality TV contestant and former Penthouse cover girl Suzi Taylor of beating him up and ripping him off after a late-night rendezvous says he knew she was a prostitute but not that she was “famous”.

David Butler says he was extremely drunk when he went to The Block 2015 contestant’s Brisbane home after allegedly meeting Taylor, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, on Tinder last October.

He said he did not recognise her because she called herself Katy.

It is alleged Taylor, 49, and her co-accused, Ali Ebrahimi, then 22, demanded money, bashed and tied up Mr Butler, who arrived carrying champagne but denies he wanted sex.

“You knew of her status in television,” defence lawyer Michael Gatenby asserted at Taylor’s committal hearing for deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm and extortion in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

“I did not know who she was the entire evening,” Mr Butler, then 33, replied.

“So you saw her photo on Tinder but as you swiped left or right you did not know it was her,” a doubtful Mr Gatenby asked.

“I used to watch The Block, so if I saw a photo I would have recognised her, but I did not,” Mr Butler replied.

Mr Butler agreed it was also possible he communicated with Taylor via the prostitution websites ‘Escorts and Babes’ and ‘Scarlet Blue’.

But he said he did not want to sleep with her because he was in a relationship at the time.

“You travelled there in a drunken state with a bottle of champagne to hold hands and talk … With a woman you knew to be a prostitute?” Mr Gatenby asked.

“Yes,” Mr Butler answered as Taylor, a mother of three, glared at him from the dock dressed in a tight-fitting black dress and pink cardigan.

“That is your fair dinkum answer?” Mr Gatenby said laughing.

Mr Butler alleges he and “Katy” drank wine on her balcony and talked about Fleetwood Mac before moving to the bedroom.

It was there, after kissing and cuddling and allegedly groping Taylor, that Mr Butler was asked to pay for sex.

“She wanted money and I refused. That is when I wanted to leave,” Mr Butler said.

“I remember her screaming: ‘He has got no money!’.”

“You understand how a prostitution arrangement works … but that took you by surprise?” Mr Gatenby said.

Mr Butler alleges he was then grabbed and bashed by a man, who was also in the unit, dragged into the kitchen and tied up with an iPhone cable.

During this time Mr Butler says Taylor and Ebrahimi took his mobile phone for about four hours and made an online transaction to withdraw money from his accounts.

“I was tied up and scared for my life. They threatened to kill me,” he said.

However, he was later released and walked to a police station to report the incident, where he was informed of Taylor’s identity.

Taylor and Ebrahimi were later charged.

They have been committed to stand trial in the Brisbane District Court at a date to be fixed.

Ebrahimi remains on bail in South Australia. Taylor’s bail for the charges was extended but she remains in custody on a slew of unrelated alleged offences.

Outside of court, Mr Gatenby said he would now send a submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions requesting the charges against Taylor be dropped.

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