Teenage girl gives evidence in alleged rape trial

Tuesday 18 December 2018

A teenage girl, who is accusing a 40-year-old man of raping and indecently assaulting her in March after giving her alcohol and cannabis, has denied agreeing to sex with the man.

Derek David Allen is facing a jury trial in the Royal Court this week, and denies the charges.

The girl gave evidence for the prosecution this morning. The Jury heard that Mr Allen had sent her messages the day before encouraging her to come and drink with him. He asked her if she was "still up for that challenge" which the teen said means who could drink the most.

She said she didn't agree to him touching her, or to having sexual intercourse, or any sexual contact at all.

Mr Allen's lawyer, Advocate Adam Harrison, also questioned the teen. She admitted that it hadn't been her first time drinking alcohol, as she had started drinking at 13 and sometimes drank quite a bit at the weekends. She also admitted to being drunk before and having smoked cannabis prior to the day of the alleged incident.

The girl said that even though she received Mr Allen's message late in the evening, she was still keen to go because she likes a drink. She told her mum she was going to stay the night at a friend's house, even though, as Advocate Harrison pointed out, Mr Allen hadn't invited her to stay over.

She said she had enjoyed drinking with Mr Allen, and spending time in his company, and that they spoke about personal things.

When asked by Advocate Harrison what had happened just before Mr Allen kissed her, the girl said they were sat side by side on the bed but that she wasn't touching him. "He was just sat next to me," she said. 

The teenager said that she only kissed Mr Allen back for a "very short amount of time," a couple of seconds, before pulling away. 

Advocate Harrison also asked her to refer to her first police interviews in which she had mentioned Mr Allen giving her oral sex. She said she didn't recall saying that, but that if it happened, she hadn't consented to it. 

Advocate Harrison asked her if she had consented to sexual intercourse and then regretted what she had done, but the girl said no. When asked if her account was true, she repeated it was.

The case, which is being heard by a jury of nine men and three women, is set to continue today with the prosecution calling a Forensic Medical Examiner and a Forensic Analyst. It is expected to continue until tomorrow.