Court hears alleged 'sleep rape' victim was "frisky"

Wednesday 24 October 2018

The defence advocate in the case of a 60-year-old man accused of raping a 55-year-old woman while she slept, has told a Royal Court jury that the woman was "frisky" after being out with friends the evening before the alleged rape took place.

Kenneth Charles Pinglaux is facing a jury trial in Royal Court for one count of rape, which he denies.

Yesterday, the jury heard evidence from Dr Virginia French, a Forensic Medical Examiner (FME) who examined the woman after the alleged rape. She described the woman as tremulous, adding that she was crying at times, especially during the examination, and felt sore. 

The FME explained that less force is needed to cause internal injury to a woman after the menopause because the skin is more likely to break. She said she had noticed bruises on the woman which were consistent with sexual activity. She added that some of them had been caused by blunt force.

Advocate James Bell, who is defending Mr Pinglaux, asked Dr French to confirm if menopausal changes mean that sex is more likely to lead to injury, regardless of whether it is consensual or not, which she agreed to.  

Advocate Bell called a longtime friend of Mr Pinglaux to give evidence about his character. The 42-year old woman described him as a lovely man,  "hardworking, honest about everything and always ready to help." 

Summing up the prosecution case, Crown Advocate Emma Hollywood said that the case focused on the issue of consent, which she described as a difficult area. She said the victim had been adamant she did not consent to sex and that she had been asleep. "If he had sex with her without her knowledge or consent that is rape," she told the jury.

She asked the seven men and five women of the jury to wonder why the woman would go through an invasive and embarrassing examination if she hadn't been raped. "Why should she make it up?" she added.

The Crown Advocate noted that no details of what the defence describe as consensual sex had been put to the woman during cross examination. She repeated that the woman had not consented to sex, saying that Mr Pinglaux had done "what he wished to an unresponsive woman laying in bed." "He took advantage of her at her most vulnerable," she added. 

Concluding her speech she praised the woman for finding the courage "to stand up and make her voice heard," while urging the jury to return a guilty verdict against Mr Pinglaux.

Pictured: The Deputy Bailiff will be summing up the evidence today before the jury retires.

Advocate James Bell started his speech by telling the jury Mr Pinglaux had no previous conviction. "He has lived his life impeccably, he has not committed offences," he added.

He told them that it was unusual for the alleged victim to drink alcohol and that she hadn’t been out in a year.

He also refuted the woman's version that she had slept through intercourse saying it was unlikely, as she had told the jury sex was so uncomfortable.

Advocate Bell said the woman had been "frisky" when she came back from town and that sex had been consensual. "It is well known that alcohol makes people less inhibited," he told the jury. "A woman may agree to have sex in circumstances where she might not have done so... She may afterwards regret what has happened, she may wish it had not happened. But consent that has been given can not be withdrawn."

He also told the jury that Pinglaux had only been charged in April, five months after the alleged rape took place. "This is not the open and shut case the prosecution would have you believe it is," he said. "'I think (I have been raped) is not good enough," he concluded urging the jury to acquit Mr Pinglaux.

The jury is expected to retire later today to consider its verdict after a summing up by the Deputy Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq.