A MAN has denied raping a woman in a caravan by having sex with her when she was too drunk to consent.
Neil Chadwick (58) is accused of committing the offence after a “lively” party in 2022.
He denies one charge of rape.
Opening the case to jurors in the Royal Court yesterday, 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.
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.”
Advocate Mike Preston is defending Mr Chadwick. Commissioner Alan Binnington is presiding.
The jury trial is expected to last another four days.
