The seventh and final alleged victim in the Nicholas Crawshaw trial told a crown court jury how she was raped a number of times on the same night despite her constantly protesting she did not want to have sex.
The woman admitted she willingly went back to Crawshaw’s bedroom, following a night out in Chester, and even agreed to kiss him and take her clothes off.
But she insisted this was a desperate attempt to ‘shut him up’ after he began pestering her for sex even though she repeatedly told him she did not want this to happen.
Crawshaw, of West Street, Hoole, is accused of 16 sex offences, including 10 rapes, against seven victims between 2010 and 2015. He denies all charges.
The trial at Warrington Crown Court reached the end of its second week today (Friday, February 19) and the jury spent the morning watching a video interview with the alleged victim which haD been recorded shortly after she claims she was raped in Crawshaw’s bedroom in June 2015.
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The complainant explained she was out with friends in Chester when she bumped into Crawshaw whom she knew, saying he had looked after her on nights out when she had panic attacks.
“He was always a nice person to me,” she told police.
They had gone to The Live Rooms in Chester where she had been drinking and admitted taking a quarter of a pill she believed was ecstasy before she became anxious and wanted to leave.
Crawshaw invited her back to his house to watch TV until a friend of the complainant’s was due to turn up there for a party and she admitted she was not concerned at this point even though she said Crawshaw asked her for a kiss when they got to the house.
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However, when they were in his bedroom, Crawshaw began repeatedly asking her if they were going to have sex and she told him every time that she did not want to.
She said she kissed him because she felt ‘uncomfortable’ and to ‘shut him up’. She claims he asked again if they were going to have sex, then asked her to take her clothes off which she did because, again, she thought it would ‘shut him up’.
It was shortly after this that the alleged victim claimed she was sexually assaulted before Crawshaw asked her to perform a sex act on him, something she again admitted she agreed to because she thought it would avoid them having intercourse.
Instead, though, after the complainant wrapped herself in a throw, she claims he approached her again and this time raped her. When she again protested she did not want sex, the woman claimed he asked her: “Why are you being like this?”
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At this point, the complainant’s friend called and Crawshaw left the bedroom to meet her. The alleged victim stayed behind and when Crawshaw returned, he said the friend had fallen asleep elsewhere in the house.
She said he began kissing her again and when she resisted, he said to her: “I do not know why you are being like this. It is me, it’s not like I’m a stranger.”
This was the prelude to another rape, she claimed, after which she asked to go to the bathroom. She said Crawshaw insisted on going with her to watch her which she believes was because she had her phone with her and he may have thought she was going to call someone.
She said she did not feel she could leave because by this time, she was ‘frightened’ of him. “I was scared. The whole time I was getting annoyed. I kept saying I did not feel well because I did not want him to know he had upset and scared me because I was scared he would not let me leave the house.”
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The alleged victim claims they had sex against her will again before finally going to sleep although the next morning, he tried to have sex with her again and was surprised when she became distressed. She again claimed that because she was scared, she made out it was because she felt unwell.
When the complainant’s friend woke up, Crawshaw called a taxi for them and the two women left but the alleged victim claimed she did not say anything then because she was afraid Crawshaw would not allow them to leave.
Although she was also reluctant to talk about the night before in front of the taxi driver, she eventually reported the incident to police.
During her video interview, the complainant described Crawshaw as ‘quite manipulative’ and that some of the things he was saying were ‘not normal’. She said he asked her that, if she was pregnant with his child, would she keep the baby or have a termination.
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She says he also asked her to swear on her mum’s life that she would never have sex with anyone else again. But she told him she would never swear on anyone’s life.
After the video interview had concluded, the jury were played an audio recording made by Crawshaw on his iPad without the knowledge of the complainant, the morning after the alleged assaults, during which the pair discussed the drugs they took the night before with Crawshaw joking about how they should go to rehab. Kissing can also be heard on the recording.
Crawshaw denies all charges against him and the case is due to continue at Warrington Crown Court on Monday (February 22).
