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The jury in the trial of the former owner of steak-and-sushi restaurant Shinzo, who is accused of six charges of assault and rape, is due to retire today.
Gavin Neil Roberts (44) has denied assaulting one woman and raping and assaulting another – but has already pleaded guilty to two more charges of grave and criminal assault.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, has argued throughout the trial, which has lasted more than a week, that Mr Roberts, often drunkenly, has made a habit of grabbing women by the neck and beating them.
The two alleged victims' reports were separately – one did not make the report herself, with a worried friend doing it instead.
Opening the trial last Tuesday, Advocate Maletroit said: “The defendant has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, and when under the influence, he loses his temper easily, over relatively minor things.
“In his case, a loss of temper often escalates to violence. You will hear many examples of that.”
Both victims described during the trial how he would be drunk by the time of assaulting them, and one described recognising his angry “devil eyes” before he attacked her the second time.
Mr Roberts previously ran the restaurant Shinzo in St Aubin and later the Windmill in St Peter, and he said the stress of the hospitality industry led him to collapse and end up in hospital the night of an opening party for his first restaurant.
Following this, he described reducing his alcohol intake to once a week – but also described how on certain occasions he would drink more often.
The second woman told the jury previously that the first assault on her took place in town after a night out.
She said that he had strangled and punched her.
Advocate David Steenson, defending, asked Mr Roberts: “The allegation is that you strangled her, shoved her against the door, strangled her and punched her a number of times to the face.
“Did you do anything like that?”
Mr Roberts denied this.
Advocate Steenson said to the alleged victim that the incident was not visible on the CCTV footage shown in court.
He said: “I suggest to you that that is a lie.”
She responded: “What? That did happen.
“He punched me repeatedly, swearing at me and he went back and forth to do it again.”
Asked if the alleged victim had complained of any injuries after the incident, he said: “No, she didn’t.”
He also denied being drunk or having consumed as much alcohol as had previously been alleged, saying he was “intoxicated” but not “drunk”.
In relation to the rape allegation, which the court heard occurred at a later date, Mr Roberts was asked about a text in which the alleged victim had said to him: “I don’t want you to hit me again.”
Advocate Steenson asked: “What does that refer to?”
Mr Roberts replied: “I don’t know.”
During the alleged rape, the woman was incapacitated, lying on a bed, when Mr Roberts assaulted and raped her, the court heard.
Crown Advocate Maletroit said: “It is the prosecution case that the defendant saw this as an opportunity to take full advantage of her and use her for his own sexual gratification however he pleased.”
In a text, the alleged victim described some of the alleged attack to a friend, saying: “He threw water over me, left me naked on the floor, stripped me.
She told the court: “I felt quite unwell.
“I didn’t know what to do; I was alone.”
Following the incident, she sent pictures of bruising to her chin, face and body to her friends, the court heard. She described how he tried to convince her that her bruises had come from falling over.
Advocate Steenson questioned how believable the alleged victim's account was, as she had initially claimed that her drink might have been spiked, but later said she was only pretending to be drunk in an attempt to protect herself.
Mr Roberts was arrested after an assault when a friend of the victim’s raised the alarm. He initially denied all the allegations against him.
An eleventh-hour guilty plea to two charges of grave and criminal assault led Advocate Maletroit to ask him: “When you changed your plea to guilty, is that because you were faced with such overwhelming evidence in respect to counts five and six?”
The victim had recorded video shortly before and after the first of these assaults and a medical examination found injuries consistent with the attack the victim described.
“No,” Mr Roberts answered. “I changed my plea because I realised exactly what I had done.”
Advocate Maletroit asked: “You realised what you had done an hour, half an hour before the jury were sworn in?”
Mr Roberts said that he indicated that he would be entering a guilty plea in the days leading up to the start of the trial.
He accepted that the victim of the offences he has pleaded guilty to had been telling the truth – but said she was lying in her other allegations.
He admitted in court yesterday that he had lied under caution in a police interview after he had been arrested.
But he pleaded guilty to the two charges of grave and criminal assault last week shortly before the jury were sworn in, the Royal Court heard yesterday.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, put to Mr Roberts that he had lied in his interview, under caution.
He said: “This is not misremembering.
“This is just a plain set of lies, isn’t it?”
Giving evidence to the jury, Mr Roberts said: “Yes. If you put it like that, yes.”
Today, closing speeches are taking place before the jury retires to consider a verdict.
Trial of ex-Shinzo boss accused of rape and attacks continues
Former Shinzo boss denies alleged rape and assaults ever happened
Islanders affected by any of the issues raised in this report can contact any of the following:
SARC at Dewberry House provides expert independent and confidential support to victims of sexual abuse. Tel: 01534 888222.
Jersey Action Against Rape (JAAR) provide and maintain a supporting framework for survivors and their families. Confidential helpline: 01534 482800.
Freeda (formerly Jersey Women’s Refuge) offer help and support for victims of domestic abuse. Tel: 0800 7356836.
Jersey Domestic Abuse Support (JDAS) is an independent service developed to protect and support victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Tel: 01534 880505.
Victim Support offer free and confidential advice to victims of crime. Tel: 01534 440496.
Victims First Jersey is a free and independent service offering confidential support to victims and witnesses of crime. Tel: 0800 7351612.
Samaritans offer a confidential and non-judgemental listening ear to people who need to talk. Tel: 116 123 free from any phone or 0330 094 5717 (local call charges apply).
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