THE alleged victim in an assault and domestic abuse case has described how she was taunted by a man who sent her pictures of him and another woman naked in bed.
The Royal Court heard that during a trip to London which she said had been arranged to provide a chance to get away from Elliot Gomes, the woman said he had sent her numerous messages and pictures.
Mr Gomes (39) is on trial having pleaded not guilty to six charges: one count of grave and criminal assault, three further assault charges, a single count of attempting to pervert the course of justice and a final charge of domestic abuse.
Later on the second day of the trial, a recording was played of a phone call to police in which the woman shouted in distress about being prevented from leaving the property where Mr Gomes was staying.
Giving evidence during the opening stages of the trial, the court had been told that Mr Gomes had used a phone torch to carry out an intimate inspection after believing that she had stolen drugs from him and been sleeping with a work colleague.
Shielded from the defendant and those in the public gallery by a screen, the woman wept as she described how she had been subjected to physical assaults and aggression from Mr Gomes after he became jealous when she started a new job.
The court was told that the defendant made his alleged victim strip after she returned home from work and then checked her body before initiating sex, during which he accused her of sleeping with her colleague.
The woman added that on two occasions, Mr Gomes had used a phone torch in a bid to gain evidence that would back up his suspicions about sleeping with her colleague, and over what he thought was the theft of cocaine that he had left unattended on a bedside table while visiting the bathroom.
“He made me feel very insecure,” she said, describing other elements of her treatment by Mr Gomes which included him forcing her to take part in live sexualised conversations with strangers in web-based chatrooms and bragging in detail about his sexual exploits with another woman.
Advocate Alexander English, defending, repeatedly challenged the woman to admit that the truth was that she had been responsible for coercive behaviour and had repeatedly lost her temper with Mr Gomes, including punching him, but she denied this.
Jurats Entwistle and Opfermann are sitting in the trial, which is expected to last around five days.
