WORCESTER NURSE ACCUSED OF DRUGGING AND RAPING WOMAN ON DATING SITE
A nurse accused of drugging and raping a woman he met on a dating site has told a jury that they had been snorting cocaine before having sex.Jonathan Michael Roberts, of Britannia Square, Barbourne, stated he experienced a panic attack when the woman alleged he had sexually assaulted them, asserting that the sex was consensual.
During his testimony, Roberts explained that he believed their intimate acts were consensual, saying, “The thing that is nice about intimacy is that it’s consensual.
I wouldn’t even watch a film with someone if it wasn’t consensual.” The court heard that Roberts is charged with rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, and administering a substance with intent, specifically MDMA.
The jury was informed that Roberts and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, connected on a dating website called OkCupid and communicated via Facebook and WhatsApp over about six years before meeting in December 2021 at Roberts’ home.
He described their evening, during which they ate a meal with his mother and then spent the night chatting and taking various drugs including nitrous oxide, cocaine, and hash oil, which he had mixed himself.
Roberts admitted they took MDMA from a mirror used earlier for cocaine, intending to get to know each other better with the aim of being intimate.
He stated he wanted to have sex, but the woman covered herself and indicated she could not, and after she suggested oral sex, he stopped her when he felt it was making him want sex more.
Roberts also said the woman told him she could not have sex because she was not on birth control, leading him to put on a condom.
When she again refused sex, he stopped trying.
Roberts interpreted her refusals as her not wanting to have intercourse, and he denied ever spiking anyone.
The trial was set to continue on Monday, with Roberts granted conditional bail.
The case remains ongoing, with Roberts maintaining his not guilty plea to all charges.
