Rugby man stands accused of sexually abusing and raping defenceless woman - The Rugby Observer

Rugby man stands accused of sexually abusing and raping defenceless woman

Rugby Editorial 23rd Jun, 2021   0

A RUGBY man is accused of sexually abusing and raping a defenceless woman and helping two other men to rape her, in what is said to have been a ‘planned and engineered’ incident.

Caspar Smith is alleged to have given the woman another drug along with her own medication before the sexual attacks were carried out, a jury at Warwick Crown Court has heard.

Smith, 46, of Omega Place, Railway Terrace, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the woman, raping her, and two charges of aiding and abetting her to be raped.

Prosecutor Caroline Harris said Smith had got to know the victim through their previous drug use, and he was aware she had health problems.




All four charges arose out of the same incident in 2018 when it was alleged Smith sexually assaulted her, raped her and ‘encouraged and assisted’ her to be raped by two other men.

And Miss Harris told the jury: “This was a planned sexual attack. He had planned and engineered this.”


She said Smith had pestered the woman to go to his home, and when she arrived she found Smith was there with a man he introduced as a neighbour.

Two other men, who the woman did not know by their full names, arrived shortly afterwards, and the four men began watching pornography.

Smith then took her medication from her bag and put one of the tablets into her mouth, together with another tablet which she did not think was one of her drugs, so she at first spat them out, but then did take them.

At the same time, Smith took her bank card, saying he was having problems with his own card, and gave it to one of the other men to go to get drugs, said Miss Harris.

“Soon after taking the tablets, she went to the bathroom and could hear the men whispering, one of them said ‘Can we all make an agreement that what happens in the flat stays in the flat?’

“She went back into the living room and Smith removed her underwear and sexually assaulted her, despite her saying no. The defendant made remarks like ‘It’s alright, it’s fine.’”

Miss Harris told the jury that Smith then ushered his neighbour to come over, and the man got up, but then said ‘We don’t need to do this,’ at which Smith told him to leave, which he did.

Miss Harris said the woman ‘felt terror’ that she could not get away because of the combination of her medication and the other drug, and could not stop what was happening.

She was allegedly thrown from one sofa to the other by one of the men, who wanted to have sex with her, and he raped her.

“The other man was more reluctant, but they carried on regardless… and were looking to the defendant for guidance as to what to do next.”

Miss Harris alleged that the defendant had intercourse with her and held her while another of the men raped her.

A few days after the incident, the woman called her GP’s practice and said she had been raped by three men, and the police were contacted.

When Smith was arrested he declined to answer questions, but gave a written statement in which he denied the allegation of rape and claimed the sexual contact had been consensual.

And he went on to say he did not witness anyone else raping the woman.

But Miss Harris suggested that messages sent between them contained an acknowledgement of what had happened.

The woman messaged: “You and your friends sexually abused me and raped me. You really don’t understand how wrong it was.”

Smith replied: “I do understand.” And in a later message he said: “I wish it never happened. I am sorry.”

The trial continues.

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