Kirkby man accused of rape is 'cowardly, vicious and despicable'

A Kirkby man accused of raping a woman was described as ‘cowardly, vicious and despicable’ by his defence barrister, a court has heard
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Jeffrey Israel told the jury in the trial of Bradley Dawes that if they do acquit him ‘it will give me no pleasure whatsoever’.

He said ‘there can be no doubt he is a repugnant young man who showed no mercy’ to the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

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"He won't get away with what he has done," Mr Israel said. "Prison is where he belongs and it is where he is going."

Nottingham Crown Court.Nottingham Crown Court.
Nottingham Crown Court.

Dawes, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but denies rape.

Earlier this week Recorder Jason Macadam directed the jury at Nottingham Crown Court to find Dawes not guilty of sexual assault.

Mr Israel said the alleged victim didn't tell anyone she had been raped when firearms police attended, on January 2, Mr Israel said, and only mentioned it the next day.

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He said that the woman claimed she told a friend about it, but there was no evidence of that.

And when the woman was interviewed again, on May 17, there were ‘inconsistencies’ in her evidence and no forensic evidence was gathered to support the allegations.

"She says it, and that's really the beginning and the end of the prosecution's evidence," Mr Israel said. "You only have her word for it. Can you rely on that word with nothing to support it?"

Armed response officers were called to Dawes' home on Mayfield Street, at 3.30pm on January 2 2019, where the woman was found with ‘substantial injuries to her face’.

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"She suffered a broken nose, chipped her tooth, blacked her eyes and he inflicted other injuries upon her," prosecutor Stuart Lody told the court.

The woman claimed Dawes ‘flipped out’ – hitting her in the face and trying to strangle her, after refusing to let her leave the house.

Dawes ordered her to go upstairs and get on the bed where, it is alleged, he raped her, the court heard.

She was also beaten up by Dawes on a service station forecourt, in a separate attack, on December 21, 2018.

The trial continues.

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