Woman, 18, raped by two men at park, jury told

A man raped a "vulnerable" 18-year-old woman at a park after she had already been attacked by his friend, a court has heard.

Sheraz Malik, 28, is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court accused of three counts of rape against the woman at Sutton Lawn park in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, on 29 June last year.

The court heard the woman had been drinking in the park with a male friend before being left with Malik and a group of men, who were unknown to her.

She was then raped by one of the group, the prosecution said, before Malik also raped her.

Warning: This article includes details that some readers may find distressing

The jury of seven women and five men were told the defendant, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, afterwards asked her "did you enjoy that?"

Prosecution counsel Nicholas Corsellis KC told the court the woman, who was 18 at the time, had been drinking in the park with a male friend, and was drunk when she met Malik and a group of other men, who she had never seen before.

Her friend asked the group to "look after" her while he went to meet another friend and promised to return in 10 or 15 minutes, the court heard.

"She was alone, drunk and was obviously a vulnerable person. The defendant and one other man decided to take advantage of this," Corsellis said.

One of Malik's associates took the woman to an isolated area of the park so she could go to the toilet, the court heard.

Corsellis said: "The first man forcibly raped her before bringing her back to the group.

"The defendant then decided he wished to have sex with her and took his turn to take her to a secluded spot, where he physically struck her while raping her."

Malik had grabbed her by the neck and hair as he raped her, the court heard.

Afterwards, the teenager sent a Snapchat message to her friend saying: "Please help me, two of them have tried it on with me. Please help me.

"The one you told to look after me tried to rape me... and the one with the black T-shirt.

"Please help, I can't cope, I feel like killing myself."

Malik told the woman not to tell anyone what had happened as he escorted her back to the group and then asked for her Snapchat contact details, the court heard.

She managed to leave the park and go back to where she was staying, where she told someone what had happened and the police were called, the jury was told.

Forensic examination on samples taken from the woman found Malik's DNA was present.

When he was arrested on 18 July, Malik told officers "I haven't done anything wrong", and answered no comment in police interviews.

He also made no comment when asked to account for why his DNA was on the complainant.

Corsellis told the jury: "The fundamental issues are the question of consent and the nature of the very brief relationship between the victim and the defendant."

The barrister told the jury the presence of DNA establishes that sexual activity did take place, but added: "The issue for you is for you to consider whether this sexual activity was consensual or not."

Malik's barrister Simon Eckersley said the defendant, who was following proceedings through a Pakistani Pashto interpreter, denies raping the woman, and said the sexual encounter was consensual.

The trial, which is expected to last five days, continues.

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