Published date: 18 February 2016 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
A BURGLAR has been cleared of raping a woman in her home.
Neil Bagnall, 30, was one of two men who burgled the woman’s flat.
A jury at Mold Crown Court heard prosecution allegations that after the second man left, Bagnall went on to rape her.
But at the end of a retrial, the jury of six men and six women returned with an unanimous not guilty verdict on the rape charge.
Last week, a jury sitting at Chester could not agree on their verdict and the retrial was ordered.
But the first jury convicted Bagnall, of Erddig Court in Wrexham, and co-defendant Levi Matthews, 18, of Sealand Avenue in Garden City, of burglary at her home.
They will be sentenced for that offence today by Judge David Hale.
Prosecuting barrister John Philpotts said both men went to the woman’s home looking for her former partner, an alleged drug dealer who had been recalled to prison, over an alleged drugs debt.
The woman said she was woken by a banging sound at about 3am one day in August and saw two men enter.
She told them there were no drugs or money, but the men searched the house and found a steak knife and a baseball bat.
Matthews was alleged to have said her partner owed £2,500 before putting the knife to her throat and threatening to slash her throat and breasts.
Bagnall, she said, threatened to hit her with the baseball bat and said he was going to have sex with her.
She said when Matthews pointed out to Bagnall that he had a girlfriend, he replied: “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” and told him to leave.
When they went to the door she tried to push them both out, but Bagnall pushed against the door and returned. She feared she would be killed.
Matthews left with the baseball bat and knife.
The woman said Bagnall then bit her cheek while trying to kiss her before ordering her to help him undress her.
Bagnall then raped her, she alleged. He slapped her on the backside and made a crude remark about the sex before leaving, she told the jury.
She said the men were very aggressive towards her and she felt “degraded and embarrassed”.
Bagnall claimed she initiated sex. He claimed Matthews suggested having a threesome, but she had said she was only interested in him and asked Matthews to leave.
She got on top of him and they had consensual sex, he claimed.
Maria Masselis, for Bagnall, said the jury was faced with different versions of events from the complainant, who at the time had alcohol and heroin issues.
The court heard that since the incident the woman no longer took alcohol or drugs.
see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/158726/wrexham-burglar-cleared-of-raping-woman-during-flat-break-in.aspx
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