TWO TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS WERE SUBJECTED TO A HORRIF
TWO TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS WERE SUBJECTED TO A HORRIFYING
NEW YEAR’S DAY RAPE AND DEATH THREAT ORDEAL ,AN OLD BAILEY JURY HEARD
ON MONDAY.
THE THREE YOUTHS WHO ATTACKED THEM CLAIMED THEY WERE
MEMBERS OF THE IRA, SAID MR MICHAEL AUSTIN-.
SMITH, PROSECUTING.
THE TWO 18 YEAR-OLD LEYTON GIRLS WANTED A LIFT BECAUSE THEY
WERE COLD, MISERABLE, SOAKED TO THE SKIN AND MILES FROM HOME.
, THE THREE YOUTHS SEEMED ‘ GOD SENT’.
BUT LATER THE
HORRIFIED HITCHHIKERS REALISED THEY WERE ON A RIDE TO DISASTER, SAID
COUNSEL
IN A DARK, LONELY COUNTRY LANE MILES FROM LONDON THEY
WERE FORCED AT GUNPOINT TO INDULGE IN ‘SEXUAL INDIGNITIES’ AND WERE
THEN RAPED.
THE THREE MEN WERE SAID TO HAVE STRONG IRISH ACCENTS.
MR
AUSTIN-SMITH SAID THE GIRLS WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD BE TAKEN TO
BELFAST AS HOSTAGES.
THE HITCHHIKERS WERE ON THEIR WAY TO NORTHAMPTON TO VISIT
A RELATIVE AND WERE SAID TO BE INAPPROPRIATELY DRESSED FOR SUCH AN
ADVENTURE.
.
.
ONE WAS IN HIGH HEELS AND A FUR COAT AND THE OTHER WAS
WEARING A SMART TROUSER SUIT.
THEY WERE PICKED UP AT A SERVICE
GARAGE AT THE JUNCTION OF THE A5 AND A41 EN ROUTE TO THE M1 AFTER
TRAVELLING BY UNDERGROUND AND BUS.
.
BY THEN THEY WERE OUT OF MONEY AND THE WEATHER WAS SO
TERRIBLE THAT THEY ABANDONED THEIR PLAN AND DECIDED TO HITCHHIKE BACK
TO THEIR HOME IN LONDON.
‘TO THESE COLD, MISERABLE GIRLS THE MEN IN THE RED FORD
ESCORT CAR WHO OFFERED THEM A LIFT MUST HAVE SEEMED A GOD SEND,’ SAID
MR AUSTIN-SMITH.
ON THE WAY THE MEN STOPPED AND BROUGHT VODKA AND ORANGE
JUICE.
THE GIRLS WERE GETTING ANXIOUS AND WANTED TO GET HOME, BUT
WERE REASSURED ‘DON’T WORRY YOU CAN TRUST US,’ SAID COUNSEL.
THE GIRLS BEGAN TO GET VERY CONCERNED WHEN THE CAR STARTED
SPEEDING DOWN DARK COUNTRY LANES.
WHEN ONE OF THE MEN SAID THEY WANTED TO HAVE SEX WITH ONE OF
THE GIRLS THEY ‘REALISED THEY WERE IN TROUBLE’.
AT ONE POINT DURING THE HIGH SPEED JOURNEY ONE OF THE GIRLS
TRIED TO ESCAPE FROM THE CAR AT A SET OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
SHE WAS
DRAGGED BACK INSIDE BY ONE OF THE MEN AND TOLD ‘WE COME FROM BELFAST,
WE ARE THE IRA.
‘
.
THREATS TO SHOOT THEM WERE ALSO MADE.
AFTER THEIR ORDEAL
THE GIRLS WERE SAID TO HAVE BEEN DRIVEN TO A BUS STOP.
TWO DAYS LATER, WITH HELP FROM AN EMPLOYEE OF THE GARAGE
WHERE THE GIRLS WERE PICKED UP, THEIR ALLEGED ATTACKERS WERE
ARRESTED.
THE TRIO, AGED 14, 18 AND 19, ALL FROM BURNT OAK,
MIDDLESEX, VARIOUSLY DENY KIDNAP, FALSE IMPRISONMENT, RAPE, INDECENT
ASSAULT, CAUSING ACTUAL BODILY HARM AND AIDING AN ABETTING RAPE ON
NEW YEAR’S DAY THIS YEAR.
TRIAL CONTINUES
ENDS
