Singer says rape accusation is 'out and out lie'

A former Spandau Ballet front man has told a jury the woman who accused him of raping her while she was asleep is telling an "out-and-out lie".

Ross Davidson, 37, rejected the claim along with a suggestion he put her in a bondage collar as "completely false".

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges she woke up to find the singer raping her in London in March 2015. Davidson says he did not sleep in the same bed as her as there was "no spark".

Davidson of Finchley, north London, is also accused of attempted rape and sexual assault of a tourist in Thailand in December 2019. He denies all the charges.

In cross-examination at Wood Green Crown Court on Wednesday, prosecution barrister Richard Hearnden told Davidson "a man can penetrate a woman" while she is asleep and asked whether he did this to the alleged victim.

Davidson denied it, and also denied using the collar, saying he did not even take it out of its box.

The woman also claimed Davidson told her he wanted to have sex with a person in a "still, lifeless, unresponsive" state like a mannequin.

Davidson replied she had probably come up with that accusation after watching a series about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Davidson, who used the stage name Ross Wild, starred in Queen-based West End musical We Will Rock You, and performed in 2018 as the singer for 80s favourites Spandau Ballet.

Despite having previously flirted and had video sex with the woman who has accused him of rape, Davidson said there was no chemistry with her when she came to London in 2015.

The Aberdeen-born musical theatre actor told the jury the "spark" was not there and she slept on the sofa and "we never slept in the same bed or the same room".

Davidson describes himself as "sex positive", telling the court that it is about "open dialogue, open-mindedness about people's predilections, just an openness to trying different sexual appetites".

The trial continues.

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