Jury hears tape of horrific attack after victim dials 999 before assault

  • Recording of 999 call
    captured the 19-year-old victim screaming for help while attacker
    yelled: ‘Open your legs’
  • Victim had 33 separate injuries on her body, a chipped tooth and dried blood on her face

By
Rebecca Seales

Last updated at 8:04 PM on 5th January 2012

A man raped a teenage girl at a beauty spot unaware that her mobile phone was transmitting details of the attack directly to the emergency services, a jury heard today.

A harrowing recording of the 999 call captured the 19-year-old victim screaming for help while the defendant yelled: ‘Open your legs. You’re getting raped,’ Guildford Crown Court was told.

The phone had become connected while Matthew Duggan, 20, rained blows on the struggling teen after stripping off her clothes, it was alleged. 

Duggan's trial is taking place at Guilford Crown Court, pictured

Duggan’s trial is taking place at Guilford Crown Court, pictured

The court heard that Duggan fled stark naked from the scene at The Meads, Chertsey, Surrey, when a local dog walker and friends of the girl intervened.

Ms Ruby Selva, prosecuting, said the girl was rushed to St. Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, by ambulance.

‘The victim had 33 separate injuries on her body and dried blood on her face. She also had a chipped tooth,’ she said.

Duggan, of Sunbury-Upon-Thames, denies two charges of rape and one of attempted rape.

When he was arrested the day after the attack in Chertsey town centre, he refused to answer police questions but insisted he had had consenting sex with the complainant.

The court was told that the attack happened in the early hours of July 24, 2011.

Ms Selva said: ‘The defendant forced the complainant to perform oral sex on him. Then he raped her and then he attempted to penetrate her.’

She said the girl, from Addlestone, Surrey, had met Duggan – whom she had known at school – when she had gone out drinking with friends.

Ms Selva said that several members of the group had gone to the Meads, a meadow area, but the defendant and the girl became separated from the others.

Duggan was arrested the day after the attack in Chertsey town centre, pictured and insisted he had had consenting sex with the victim

Duggan was arrested the day after the attack in Chertsey town centre, pictured and insisted he had had consenting sex with the victim

She said Duggan had suddenly turned violent when the complainant rejected his advances.

‘During the ensuing attack, he repeatedly hit her and threatened her,’ said Ms Selva.

But unknown to the defendant, the girl’s mobile had somehow called 999 and was connected during the incident.

‘It recorded some of the attack. The call was harrowing and horrific in its content,’ she said.

A recording of the incident was played to the jury and Ms Selva said the defendant was shouting: ‘Open your legs. You’re getting raped.’

The court heard the girl crying for help and yelling ‘no, no’ as Duggan said, ‘You’re warm. You’re lovely.’

Ms Selva said the defendant was then heard to say: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

She added: ‘Throughout the incident, the complainant was fighting, crying and begging the defendant to leave her alone.’

Ms Selva said the phone recording was a key piece of evidence which ‘captures his brutality and his crimes.’

When others came upon them, the defendant ran from the scene. ‘He was completely naked,’ the prosecutor said.

Ms Selva said Duggan’s flight tended to undermine his later claim that sex with the complainant had been consensual.

‘The injuries which the victim was found to have sustained were wholly consistent with force being used,’ she said.

She added that the defendant had ordered the girl to keep quiet about what had happened when rescuers arrived, warning, ‘Don’t you dare say anything.’

The girl told police: ‘He was trying it on. I said no and that’s what made him really angry.’

Ms Selva said scratches had been found on the defendant’s legs from when he had fled naked through the undergrowth.

After his initial arrest Duggan replied ‘No comment’ to police questions, but he later issued a prepared statement, saying: ‘I believed her advances indicated that she wished to have sex with me. It was consensual.’

In her police interview, the complainant agreed she had been friendly towards the defendant – but said his mood had suddenly altered.

‘I was telling him no. He punched me and blood was coming down my face. I had no clothes on,’ she said.

She said she was punched three times, but could not recall all the details of the forced sex.

‘All I can remember was him forcing me to perform oral sex,’ she said.

The teenager admitted she had been drinking, but said she was aware of what was going on.

Asked why some of her recollections were hazy, she replied: ‘It was just shock. The shock made it a blur. I couldn’t believe it.’

The trial continues.

Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.

Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes