DEWSBURY MAN JAILED FOR RAPE AFTER FAILED APPEAL ATTEMPT
A Dewsbury man who subjected a Leeds prostitute to a degrading rape today tried to convince top judges the jury’s guilty verdict made no sense.Abdul Fulat picked up the woman in the Holbeck area in September 2014 before driving her to a secluded spot.
He said he just wanted company and paid her £60, but later turned nasty and forced her to engage in a sex act.
He was jailed for eight years at Leeds Crown Court in September last year after being found guilty of rape.
He previously admitted supplying the victim with crack cocaine, but was cleared by the jury of giving her heroin and sexually assaulting her.
Fulat challenged his rape conviction, with his lawyers arguing the jury’s verdicts were “logically inconsistent.” They said that, if jurors didn’t believe the victim when acquitting Fulat of supplying heroin and the other sex attack, he could not rationally be found guilty of rape.
But, throwing out his complaints at the Court of Appeal in London, Judge David Aubrey QC said it was possible for the jury to reach the verdicts it did.
The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Mr Justice Green, said Fulat initially denied having had any sexual contact with the victim.
But he later asked to retake the stand so he could change his story and say the victim consented – which the jury was “entitled” to disbelieve.
The judge added: “In our view, Fulat has failed to establish an arguable basis for contending that the verdict is unsafe and should be quashed.” The appeal was dismissed.
