A 42-year-old man today (Friday) celebrated his ac
A 42-year-old man today (Friday) celebrated his acquittal on rape charges after claiming he was falsely accused following a late-night heavy petting session.
Silver haired Paul Whitehead told a jury that after being invited into the home of his alleged victim they had started to ‘kiss and cuddle’.
He insisted that although clothing had been removed, full sex was never intended and the woman willingly participated in the romp on the sofa.
But a young mother maintained she awoke to a sex nightmare when she found herself subject to the unwelcome attentions of a guest in her home.
Miss X and a friend had been driven home by Whitehead, an apparent Good Samaritan, after a night out.
The mother-of-two asked both men to leave after they all enjoyed a nightcap but fell into a deep sleep on her sofa – alleging that Whitehead secretly remained to attack her.
London’s Southwark Crown Court was told that the woman woke up to find herself half-naked with Whitehead on top of her.
The defendant, of Hillbeck Close, New Cross, se London, denied attempted rape on February 6, and an alternative charge of indecent assault.
A jury of seven women and five men took nearly seven hours to find Whitehead not guilty of the attempted rape.
They were discharged from returning verdicts on the indecent assault charge after becoming hopelessly split in their deliberations.
A formal not guilty verdict was entered when the Crown disclosed the prosecution would not seek a retrial.
Whitehead was also formerly acquitted of an initial charge of rape that never went before the jury.
However, as the defendant celebrated with a jubilant cry of ‘yes’, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, QC, called him back to the dock to warn:
‘You have been found not guilty, that’s fair and square, but you know how careful you have got to be.
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Jocelyn Sparks, prosecuting, said the victims’s children were spending the weekend with their father, so Miss X and her boyfriend took the chance of a night out and met with friends in a Peckham pub.
The boyfriend left but Miss X remained with the group, promised a lift home with one of their friends.
They were joined by Whitehead – Miss Sparks saying the victim and the defendant were not strangers but ‘on nodding terms.
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She said after last orders, Miss X’s driver decided he had drunk too much to get behind the wheel.
They both agreed to be driven home to Rotherhithe by Whitehead.
All three returned to Miss X’s home for a last drink but the woman found herself ‘nodding off’ as she was extremely tired.
‘There came a point she asked if they would not mind leaving as she was so tired,’ said the barrister.
‘The defendant asked if he could use the lavatory before leaving, but while she was waiting she fell asleep on the sofa, completely nodding off.
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Miss Sparks told the court: ‘She woke up to find this defendant on top of her.
She was lying on her stomach and her clothing from the waist down had been removed.
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It was alleged the defendant’s erect penis was pressed against the woman’s private parts – reflected in the charge of attempted rape.
When challenged by the woman, Whitehead immediately got up and dressed himself, the ‘visibly upset’ woman also managing to clothe herself.
‘The defendant was pacing around the room and became to some extent aggressive, and made it quite clear he did not want her to go to the police,’ said Miss Sparks.
However, Miss X confided in her sister the next day, police were called and Whitehead arrested.
ends
