A teenager on trial accused of rape has told a jury at Minshull Street Crown Court the encounter was consensual, claiming the alleged victim agreed to go into bushes near a tram stop
A teenager accused of “gang raping” a girl in undergrowth close to a tram stop told a court he felt “happy” after the encounter.
The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, insisted the sexual activity was “100 per cent” consenual. However, he stands trial alongside a 15-year-old boy both accused of rape as prosecutors argue they took it in turns and swapped positions” during the incident. The court heard a 14-year-old boy allegedly involved has been ruled unfit to stand trial.
Part of the assault on the then-13 year old girl was recorded on a mobile phone and subsequently “circulated amongst themselves (the boys)” and “others”. The 16-year-old defendant, who was 14 at the time, told Minshull Street Crown Court: “I was happy” after the encounter, which the jury heard was his first time having sex.
Under questioning from his barrister, Rachel Shenton, he stated that on the day in question he had been in Rochdale town centre with his two co-defendants and another boy. He described how they had been “running around, joking around town” before bumping into some other youngsters at Newbold tram stop. When questioned whether he recognised the alleged victim and her friend, he stated he had “more than likely probably seen them” previously, though he didn’t know them personally.
They got on the same tram and the boy claimed that throughout the “eight-to-nine-minute” journey to Newbold, there was “talking and flirting” during which the alleged victim’s friend had mentioned that the alleged victim “liked” his co-defendant. Discussion then turned to “who fancied who”, he said.
The boy stated: “I asked (the alleged victim) did she like me and she said yes.” He claimed there was subsequently “conversation about s******g”. He alleged they “all agreed” to head to the bushes and that the alleged victim “suggested we go and get some condoms” but that they’d informed her they didn’t have any money and that she said it was “okay to do it without”.
The alleged victim, the boy informed the court, “voluntarily walked into the bushes” and “she went first”. He claimed that whilst in the bushes she began performing a sex act on his co-defendant before subsequently doing the same to him.
“Did (the alleged victim) say or do anything to suggest she wasn’t agreeing to that?” Ms Shenton put to him. “No, it was 100 per cent willingly,” he responded.
When asked if anything prevented her from leaving the bushes, he stated: “No, she could have got up and walked out.” The lad admitted to attempting intercourse with her, reports the Manchester Evening News. “Would it be fair to say you were not very successful at that?” Ms Shenton queried.
“Yes,” he responded. “It was my first time,” he informed the court.
“Did you know what you were doing in terms of sex? Did you know how to have sex?” Ms Shenton questioned him. “No,” he answered.
He claimed to have been in the bushes for approximately “six or seven minutes.”
“Did you believe she was consenting?” Ms Shenton asked. “Yes,” he responded.
“Would you have done any of these actions if you felt she wasn’t consenting?” she continued. “No,” the boy answered.
When asked whether she or they were “moving around” during the encounter, he replied “both”. He stated that he was the first to exit the bushes as his “phone had died” and he needed to “rush home”.
“Were you running away thinking you had done anything wrong?” Ms Shenton enquired. “No,” the boy declared.
He mentioned that he went home and ate a sandwich before heading out again. “If I thought I had committed an offence I don’t think I would have gone back to the town,” he asserted.
He revealed that he asked his co-defendant to send him a Snapchat video that the court has heard was recorded during the incident. “Did you believe that was a video of the rape of the girl?” Ms Shenton questioned him.
“No,” he stated.
When Ms Shenton asked him how he felt afterwards about the fact he had had his ‘first sexual encounter’ and had ‘lost his virginity’, he said: “I was happy.”
The boy told the court he now felt ‘very ashamed’ about the incident. “Why do you feel ashamed?” Ms Shenton asked him.
“Because I am getting blamed for something I didn’t do,” he said.
“What do you think about what you did do?” Ms Shenton asked him. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
“I don’t know why I’m in this situation to be honest.”
The boy revealed he’d left school early and never received any sex education. Nevertheless, he insisted he had been “brought up to be respectful” towards women.
“Did you gang rape (the alleged victim)? Ms Shenton asked him. ” Ms Shenton asked him. “No,” the boy replied.
“Is that ever something you would do?” she asked. “No,” he replied.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Kim Whittlestone, the boy admitted that whilst on the tram, he had propositioned the alleged victim, asking if she wanted to “s**g” him, and that she had responded “yes”.
“Did she appear to want to s**g you?” prosecutor Whittlestone asked him. “Yes,” the boy said.
“Did she appear to want to be in your company?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied.
“Did you think it was slightly odd you were going to have sex with her in the bushes?” Ms Whittlestone asked him. “No,” he replied.
“But this was your first time, you didn’t think that was odd?” she continued. “I wouldn’t think it was odd if she agreed to do it,” he said.
The boy stated he was “not clear” about the precise events in the bushes but denied that the girl was “being told what to do.
“What did you think about it being recorded?” Ms Whittlestone asked him. “I didn’t really think about that,” he said.
“It got shared with me but I didn’t share it with anyone else,” he said of the footage.
Earlier, Ms Whittlestone told the court the now 14 year old has been deemed unfit to stand trial. She explained the jury would need to determine “whether he did the act” and whether he “encouraged” it to occur without the girl’s consent.
The indictment lists five counts of rape. Three counts apply individually to each boy, whilst two are charged as ‘joint enterprise’, jurors heard.
Each boy denies the allegations against them.
The trial continues.
