A homosexual tried to convert himself to heterosex

A homosexual tried to convert himself to heterosexuality
by breaking into women’s homes and attacking them in their beds,
an Old Bailey jury heard today (Wednesday).

Prosecutor Miss Jane Calnan said 30-year-old Shane Smith,
who had never had sex with a woman, ‘candidly confessed’ to police
that he was motivated by an ‘experiment’ to change his ways.

‘He told police he had an urge to abandon his homosexual
lifetsyle, to do something different,’ said counsel.

‘He said he was trying to change himself into being a normal
person in society; to have sex with a woman – something he had never
done before.

‘
Despite his intention, Smith’s innability to be fully
aroused during the attacks stopped him from raping his two victims,
said counsel.

But, she told the court, the defendant has since changed
his story and no longer ‘stands by’ his initial ‘full and frank
admissions.

‘
Smith, unemployed, of Mount View Road, Crouch End, denies
attempting to rape a 46-year-old mother on July 4, this year and
an alternative charge of indecent assault.

He also denies burglary with intent to rape a 36-year-old
woman six days later on July 10.

Counsel said the first victim awoke in a ‘half conscious’
state after Smith broke into her bedroom.

‘She put her hand down by her bed and felt a head of hair,’
counsel said.

‘She then felt stubble against her face and someone trying
to kiss her.

‘She immediately pushed him away and started screaming.

‘
The attacker pulled the pillow from beneath his victim’s
head and smothered her face, the jury heard.

‘Shut up or I’ll kill you,’ he snarled.

He then removed the pillow and said: ‘I want to have sex,’
the jury heard.

Counsel said: ‘The woman was very frightened, aware her
nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter was sleeping in the next room
and her lodger, also a woman, was sleeping in another room.

‘
The terrified woman, fearing for her life, submitted to
his demands and did not resist when he molested her, the court
heard.

After he parted her legs and lifted her nightie, she had
the ‘presence of mind’ to distract him by asking questions about
his mother and sister, counsel said.

During the conversation, the attacker admitted: ‘I’ve not
done this before.

‘
Failing to get an erection, he eventually fled.

The distraught woman waited a few minutes to calm herself
down before telephoning police, the jury heard.

Six days later, the attacker struck again.

The second victim, 36, awoke to find him standing at the
end of her bed.

She screamed: ‘Who is it? Who’s there?’
When the intruder kept silent, the terrified woman shouted:
‘Michael, Michael’, pretending there was another man in the house.

‘Her trick had the desired effect and the defendant ran
off, escaping through a dining room window and running off through
her rear garden,’ said counsel.

The woman said her assailant was a black man in his early
20s, about six foot tall and ‘very athletic’.

A ‘neat piece of detective work’ led to Smith’s arrest,
said counsel.

During door-to-door inquiries in the Crouch End area, a
policeman knocked on the defendant’s front door and spoke face-to-face
with him.

‘During their conversation the officer formed the view that
the man he was talking to fitted almost exactly the description from
the women of their assailant,’ said counsel.

After further inquiries, Smith was arrested the next day on
July 16, this year.

During a search of his flat, police found on top of his
bedroom wardrobe a nylon bag containing a pillow case, a towel and
a pair of yellow Marigold dishwashing gloves.

Smith allegedly told police he used the gloves when breaking
into his victims’ homes, had planned to cut eye holes in the pillow
case and wear it over his head to protect his identity and carried
the towel to wipe off himself any ‘mess’ which may incriminate
him, the court heard.

Both women lived in Crouch End.

The trial continues.