Rape accused blamed injuries on rough sex - court

A West Sussex man who is accused of charges of rape, control and abuse towards five women blamed their injuries on consensual rough sex, a court has heard.

One woman said George De Bathe, 25, from Chichester, held a knife to her throat while threatening to kill her, Portsmouth Crown Court heard at a trial on Tuesday.

The five women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had all aspects of their lives controlled by the defendant from what they wore to their social media use, Diana Wilson, prosecuting, said.

Mr De Bathe denies charges of raping four women and 24 other charges including actual bodily harm, sexual assault, coercive control, making a threat to kill and false imprisonment.

Ms Wilson told the court that the abuse began when Mr De Bathe was in secondary school.

One evening while watching TV, he allegedly dragged a girl off the sofa and threatened to stab her with a kitchen knife, Ms Wilson said.

The young women described how the defendant pressured them into taking nude or topless pictures of themselves which he would use to manipulate them later, the court heard.

One young woman said on three occasions Mr De Bathe was so violent she lost consciousness, and on one occasion, she thought she would die, Ms Wilson told the jury.

The young woman told police she agreed to sex in order to avoid being beaten, the court heard.

Mr De Bathe was first arrested in March 2019 after some of the women had contacted each other but he started to abuse the fifth young woman afterwards, Ms Wilson told the jury.

Andrew Selby, defending Mr De Bathe, said each of the five complainants had their own recollections, contradictions and motivations.

He told the court: "If they were truly victims, why do so many of their messages tell such a different story?"

The trial continues.

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