Hartlepool rape trial: Alleged victim denies sex with man was consensual

Paul Rowntree, 25, is on trial at Teesside Crown Court accused of raping the woman in Hartlepool town centre.

The jury earlier heard accounts the alleged victim gave to the police that Rowntree forced himself on her despite pleas by her for him to stop and that she was unable to move.

On Tuesday she was cross examined by barrister Richard Herrmann who is defending Rowntree.

The woman, who cannot be identified, accepted passionately kissing Rowntree after meeting him on a night out.

Mr Herrmann suggested the woman and Rowntree put their hands inside each other’s trousers outside the back of a pub.

The woman denied doing so with Rowntree and said she pulled his hand away telling him she was ‘not a kid’.

Mr Herrmann then asked why she went with Rowntree into a dark alley.

She said she believed she was looking for a family member she had been out with but lost.

Mr Herrmann said: “You were going to have sexual intercourse with him.”

The woman replied: “No.”

The jury earlier heard that a group of lads walked past during the alleged incident.

Mr Herrmann asked if that had made her feel embarrassed and brought her to her senses saying: “Everything that happened between you was fully consensual at the time wasn’t it?”

The woman said: “No. I felt scared because nobody stopped to help me.”

The woman denied a suggestion by the defence that Rowntree tried to help her up at one point.

She said: “I was trying to get away to crawl away and he had his hand on my neck.

"I couldn’t move.”

Witness Keenan Robson gave evidence saying he heard the woman crying ‘hysterically’ when he went into the alley to urinate and noticed a man next to her pulling his trousers up.

Mr Robson said he got some friends and they challenged Rowntree who had walked away.

He denied a suggestion by the defence that Rowntree left because he was being aggressively accused of rape.

Rowntree, of no fixed address, denies rape and the trial continues.

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