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Verdict expected in trial of man accused of caravan rape

Verdict expected in trial of man accused of caravan rape

Friday 05 July 2024

Verdict expected in trial of man accused of caravan rape

Friday 05 July 2024


The trial of a man accused of raping a woman in a caravan by having sex with her when she was too drunk to consent is expected to conclude today.

Neil Chadwick (58) is accused of committing the offence after a party.

He denies one charge of rape.

Mr Chadwick has been on trial in the Royal Court since the start of this week.

Jurors are expected to deliver their verdict later today.

A “lively” party

Opening the case in the Royal Court on Monday, Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said the woman and Mr Chadwick had met at the party, where they had started talking and dancing together. 

“The party was a lively affair,” Crown Advocate Hallam said. “She was staggering. She was far more drunk than the defendant. 

“She had to cling to him for balance.” 

The advocate said that at one point the defendant grabbed the woman’s arm and took her onto the dance floor. 

The last thing she remembers, Crown Advocate Hallam said, was going outside the building with Mr Chadwick for a cigarette. 

Mr Chadwick is then accused of taking the woman to the caravan and having sex with her while she was too intoxicated to consent. 

“Not capable of consenting to sex”

When the woman woke up in the morning, she was wearing only her bra and had injuries to her neck, eye and jaw, the court heard. 

Mr Chadwick was naked with her in the caravan, jurors were told. 

In a police interview that was played to the court, the woman said: “My face really hurt. He said: ‘You’ve got a shiner.’” 

She described how the bruising and black eye became worse in the following days, and how she was “shocked” to realise what had happened to her. 

She described receiving obscene messages from Mr Chadwick after the incident which referred to them having sex. 

Crown Advocate Hallam said: “He would later admit that he had sex with her the night before. 

“But in law, she was not capable of consenting to sex.” 

“I woke up completely confused” 

On Tuesday, the woman gave evidence in court and described waking up “in agony” after the alleged rape.

Advocate Mike Preston, defending, asked the woman about details of the night, but she said she did not remember the evening after she had gone outside to smoke with Mr Chadwick. 

“I woke up [in the caravan] completely confused,” she said. “I didn’t know where I was initially, and then I realised I only had my bra on.” 

The woman had bruises on her face, eye and neck, which became worse over the following days, Royal Court jurors heard. 

She said: “My face was in agony when I woke up.

"He initially said I fell onto the TV and then later said I had fallen on the floor.” 

“I just wanted to come home”

The woman described having sex with the man again in the morning and said: “I wasn’t enjoying it.

"My face hurt. I was trying to get it over with. 

“I didn’t say anything, but I think, I probably felt that: ‘Oh God, I had sex with him last night, am I going to be expected to?’” 

She had then accepted a lift home from him, she said, despite not knowing his name. 

“I just wanted to come home,” she said. 

“Everyone lets their hair down a bit”

During cross-examination, Advocate Preston said that the woman’s bruises had been caused by her falling onto furniture in the caravan. 

The defence advocate also read out a series of messages the pair sent to each other in the days after the incident, during which there was no mention of any rape. 

The woman said she was a “people-pleaser” who would go along with the conversation. 

Other attendees at the party gave evidence in court, describing how they saw the woman and Mr Chadwick dancing together and kissing. 

On the dancefloor, she seemed like she had had “three or four beers”, according to a witness, who described her level of drunkenness as being in line with “a normal, social evening where everyone lets their hair down a bit”. 

But another witness said that the alleged victim appeared much more drunk later in the night. 

“She had changed. She had gotten quite drunk but also quite giggly and funny,” they said.

“She was leaning on Neil.” 

“She was intoxicated, she was alone”

Giving evidence in court yesterday, Mr Chadwick described how the alleged victim asked him for sex when they were alone in the caravan. 

Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said: “She was intoxicated, she was alone, she had no way of getting home.” 

Mr Chadwick replied: “She was not alone. She was with friends. 

“I did not know [the alleged victim] before that evening. I did not know who her friends were.” 

Advocate Hallam argued that the woman had been “vulnerable”. 

Mr Chadwick said: “Vulnerable? She was stumbling, laughing, giggling. ‘Vulnerable’ is a word I wouldn’t use. Intoxicated, yes.” 

Mr Chadwick admitted the woman appeared drunk when she got to the caravan, but said when he returned around an hour and a half later she had asked for sex. 

Advocate Hallam said: “You had been speaking to [the woman] – you had seen her face was slightly swollen and red and, out of concern, you offered her treatment in the form of ice. 

“What changed from you thinking that way to thinking it was appropriate to have sex with her?” 

Mr Chadwick said: “Because she asked me to. We had a conversation on my return.” 

“I treat women with respect”

He continued: “I’m a respectable person. I treat women with respect. I treat men with respect.” 

Mr Chadwick also addressed the suggestion that he had punched the woman, which he described as “ludicrous”.

“Anyone who knows my character knows this is not the truth,” he said. “It’s not me.” 

Advocate Preston read out statements from 12 people in support of Mr Chadwick, who was described as a “kind” man who took care of his mother and checked in regularly with friends. 

One said: “Neil is very respectful towards women. I have never seen anything that has given me cause for concern.” 

Mr Chadwick also described how the trial had affected him, saying he suffered from anxiety and struggled to understand some of the documents put in front of him. 

Commissioner Alan Binnington is presiding. 

The trial is due to conclude today.

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