Skegness rape accused says ‘she came on to me’ as court hears he had been in country for 40 days

A man who denies raping a drunk woman in a Skegness park[1] had been in the UK for just 40 days and told a jury she 'came on to me', during his trial. Saad Gomaa, 34, denies raping the woman in the resort's Tower Gardens on June 9 this year[2] - telling jurors it was consensual sex which lasted around two minutes. Jurors at Lincoln Crown Court heard Gomaa was arrested after being located in the nearby Busters bar an hour after the alleged rape.

The officers realised Gomaa, who previously lived in Italy, required an Arabic interpreter and asked him to confirm a number of details. Reading out a list of agreed facts in the case, Clive Stockwell KC, prosecuting, said the defendant confirmed his name as Saad Gomaa and gave the details of the Skegness hotel where he was staying. Gomaa also confirmed: "I have only been in the country 40 days." When asked to give the name of the country he had come from, Gomaa replied: "France."

Mr Stockwell said documents found during a search of the hotel where Gomaa was staying supported his identity. This document supported he was on Home Office bail on determination of his asylum application," Mr Stockwell added. The jury also heard a statement from a dog walker who found the alleged rape victim in Tower Gardens.

Chantelle Moses said: "I could see a woman crouched down holding onto the park railings. I walked over to her and I could see she was already on the phone to the police. "I asked her 'what was wrong?' She said she had been raped in the park." A statement was also read from a police officer who arrived at the scene and found the alleged rape victim 'intoxicated."

"She kept saying she had been raped by an illegal immigrant in the bushes in Tower Gardens," the officer said. Jurors heard the officer asked the woman to enter Tower Gardens and show him where the incident occurred but she refused, saying "he might still be in there." Extracts from a police interview with the defendant were read out in court, having been translated by an Arabic interpreter.

Gomaa told police: "A female approached me and asked me for a cigarette. I was in the park when she started speaking to me in English. "It was consensual sex.

She came on to me. I told her I don't speak English but I understand one word - cigarette. So I rolled her a cigarette and gave it to her."

He said: "She was like crying and started to hug me. I felt she wanted sex. I walked away and then she followed me.

We were sitting on a bench. We had sex. It was mutual and she wanted it.

She started to hug me and kiss me - I did the same." During the interview, Gomaa also described his daily routine. "I've only been here 40 days so I don't have a special routine," Gomaa admitted. "All I do is go for a coffee in that restaurant and then I go where my feet take me." Gomaa said this could include going to the beach, the park, sleeping in his hotel or ringing a friend in Egypt.

Giving evidence from the witness box, Gomaa said he entered Tower Gardens after 9pm to sit and make phone calls. Gomaa said he saw the woman enter the park around 10pm. "She was kind and I didn't know why she was kind," Gomaa said. "So I just wanted to help her." Gomaa told defence barrister Karen Walton: "I thought she might understand Italian or Arabic language.

"We stood for ten minutes under the trees," Gomaa explained. "She was talking English language. And then I heard her say 'cigarette', which is a common language. "We sit under the tree, then she stopped crying after I rolled the tobacco.

Then she hugged me, then we started to kiss each other. She kissed me first. "I was confused that someone was crying then kissed me." Gomaa added: "I don't know if she had been drinking, she was happy.

"She said the word 'love,' I had to ask at the police station what that meant. It lasted about one minute, the kissing, then she stopped. I don't know why.

"I had a drink with me, mango juice from the hotel, I drink it when I smoke. When I opened it she wanted a drink." Gomaa said the woman then touched him sexually. "I did the same to her," Gomaa admitted.

Miss Walton then asked Gomaa: "At any time do you remember her saying 'No' or 'Stop'? He replied "No." Gomaa was then asked if he would understand the word 'No.' He replied: "Even in Italian language no means no, even in Arabic language we sometimes say 'No.' " I wanted to stop but she kept playing with my hair and hugging me.

"I wanted to leave. She seemed annoyed. I walked then she followed me and grabbed my hand.

We walked for about three minutes. I didn't ask her for anything. "We both stopped.

I didn't understand her language, what she was asking for." Gomaa added: "If she was drunk she would not be able to stand up. She wanted to sit on the ground." The pair then moved to a bench after Gomaa picked the woman up, jurors heard.

Asked if he wanted to continue any touching Gomaa replied: "If she like, I wasn't forcing anyone." Gomaa denied leading the woman to a tree area. Miss Walton asked Gomaa: "Did you want to have sex with her because you knew she could not say 'No' ?"

He replied: "I've never had sex with someone in such a situation, it is not a human thing to do." Gomaa said the sex lasted around two minutes after the woman pulled her own leggings down. Asked why he then walked away, Gomaa replied: "I was scared, she was talking and wanted sex again, I just wanted to leave." He added: "When I left her she got upset. She shouted at me."

Gomaa said he briefly went back to check on the woman and saw her on the phone.

The trial continues.

References

1. ^ A man who denies raping a drunk woman in a Skegness park (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
2. ^ in the resort's Tower Gardens on June 9 this year (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)