Man faces Royal Court rape trial

Tuesday 20 February 2024

A man has gone on trial in the Royal Court accused of raping and sexually assaulting a woman multiple times.

David Nigel Pearce (41) denies four counts of rape and three sexual assaults.

Outlining the prosecution’s case, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas said Mr Pearce was verbally abusive to the woman.

Advocate Thomas told the jury that on several occasions Mr Pearce shouted at his alleged victim, grabbed her by the throat and pinned her down before forcing himself on her sexually, ignoring her cries that he stop because he was hurting her.

Advocate Thomas added: “There can’t be any question that the victim was consenting, and there can be no basis for the defendant misunderstanding her position.”

On another occasion, it was alleged that Mr Pearce grabbed the woman by the throat and that she had wet herself because she was so fearful.

The court heard that Mr Pearce was arrested following an altercation in which he had been “going crazy”, which Advocate Thomas said resulted in the alleged victim slapping him and initially being questioned by police on suspicion that she had assaulted him.

Giving evidence from behind a screen so she could not be seen by the accused or those in the public gallery, the alleged victim described how during the first incident Mr Pearce attacked her in a drunken rage.

The woman told the jury that Mr Pearce had been extremely angry after she attempted to defend the reputation of her friends, who he had referred to as “whores” and “sluts”.

Advocate David Steenson is representing Mr Pearce, while Commissioner Alan Binnington is presiding.

The trial is expected to last a week.