PADIHAM MAN ACCUSED OF RAPING WOMAN AFTER NIGHT OUT
The trial of a man accused of raping a woman in her bed after a drunken night out has begun.At Burnley Crown Court on Wednesday, a jury of eight women and four men heard the case against Sean Charnley, 22, who is accused of raping a 35-year-old woman following a night out in Padiham in August 2021.
Opening for the prosecution, Jon Close said: “The Crown says the man, who is a stranger to the victim, on that night, raped her while she was asleep.
But the defence say she wasn’t asleep and this was consensual sex.
“On August 6, 2021, the victim went for a night out with her pal.
She met the defendant who was with a mutual friend.
“The defendant and the victim had never met before.
After some hours the group of four went back to her home and carried on drinking until the early hours.
There is nothing unusual or controversial about that.
However, the victim began to wind down and fall asleep on the sofa, which is when the defendant placed his hand between her legs.
"She told him to ‘f**k off’, and he apologised.
That left the victim uncomfortable, as while she wanted to go to sleep, she didn’t want to be alone.
The victim and her friend went upstairs and got into bed together.
They were both fully dressed and they got under the covers.
“Why does the prosecution say she was uncomfortable about the defendant?
Well, before she went to sleep the last thing she said to her friend was ‘don’t leave me’.
Unfortunately that’s what her friend did and she went downstairs and fell asleep on the sofa.
“The Crown say the defendant saw his opportunity and he went upstairs, removed all his clothes and got into bed with the victim, pulled down her leggings, and in her own house has raped her while she was asleep.
“The victim woke up and her friend was gone, and she could feel movement behind her, which was the defendant masturbating.
He said to her, ‘you can finish me off’.
She got angry and upset and called him a ‘dirty b*****d’, to which he responded, ‘don’t call me that I am a schizophrenic’.
The court was told how Charnley, of Commercial Street, Leeds, left the bedroom topless, closely followed by the victim, who was shouting at him to get out of her house, and in her anger she picked up a glass and smashed it on the floor.
Mr Close said she then called to her friend, “you said you wouldn’t leave me”.
The victim’s friend, another man and Charnley all left, with Charnley still topless as he exited her home.
Police were called and the victim gave a full account of what had happened.
Charnley was arrested the next day but denied rape and said he went upstairs and they talked and had consensual sex.
Mr Close went on: “He said he didn’t rape her, and only removed his trousers and not his top.
He also said he went downstairs and was there for 30 minutes before leaving the house.
We can say that account is a lie and you will see this from the evidence of the victim and from her account.
She is someone with no reason to invent false allegations.” Mr Close told the jury they would hear from witnesses who would corroborate the victim’s story, and CCTV evidence from a house across the street, which showed the defendant leaving the victim’s property without his top on.
That CCTV was shown to the court, and the victim’s police interview was also played to the jury, in which she told officers she “could feel him in her, around her, on her.” Further witnesses are expected to take the stand today, before the defence makes its case.
The trial continues.
