Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked, repeatedly raped, and left to die on a park bench in West London – after reportedly falling unconscious while on a night out, a court heard
A court has been shown chilling CCTV footage today in which prosecutors claim a stranger can be seen moving an NHS nurse’s body on a park bench as he allegedly repeatedly raped her.
Natalie Shotter, 37, was enjoying herself on a night out in west London before she was sexually assaulted by a stranger who prosecutors claim was “seeking out a vulnerable woman”. The NHS worker was killed on a park bench while unconscious, jurors heard. Mohamed Iidow, 35, is on trial accused of her rape and manslaughter in Southall Park.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told jurors on Friday that Ms Shotter’s cause of death was a heart attack, brought on by her being raped “again and again”. In CCTV footage played to the court, Ms Shotter was seen sitting on a bench with a different man when, the prosecution says, the defendant walked past and looked at them shortly before the alleged attack.
Iidow then left the park, drove away in his car, then returned, jurors heard. Ms Shotter, who is believed to have fallen unconscious, was seen lying down, showing “no clear movement” for roughly half an hour before the defendant approached her “nonchalantly”. The mum was described as being “deeply unconscious”, during the alleged attack.
Ms Morgan told jurors: “What was the defendant doing there, what was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night and thinking about what his objectives must have been – seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape.”
Jurors were then shown CCTV in which the prosecution said the defendant could be seen moving Ms Shotter’s body around in different positions as he raped her. Ms Morgan added: “The prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her by this defendant.
“She was not dead at the time when the defendant was orally raping her, it will be a matter for you to consider – that this defendant went to the park for a reason. He would not have sought to have sex with a dead body for over 15 minutes, he was having sex with someone he knew was alive but was deeply unconscious and therefore he was raping her.”
Ms Shotter was found dead on the park bench by a passer-by in the early morning of July 17, 2021. The court heard how after the alleged attack, the defendant drove back to his home in Hounslow, west London, via a Shell garage where he stopped to buy cat food and mouthwash.
Swabs taken from Ms Shotter’s mouth area matched DNA samples taken from the defendant, the court heard.
Iidow has denied the charges against him and the trial was adjourned until Monday.
