A Carlisle teenager has heard a custodial sentence is “almost inevitable” after he was convicted of raping two schoolgirls during incidents that took place almost two years apart.
One girl, then aged just 14, “froze” as initial consensual kissing between the pair in a secluded area of a city park, in autumn, 2017, developed into advanced sexual contact despite her telling him “no”.
Seen distressed afterwards, she later told police she found him “tall, strong and quite scary”.
The second girl was 15 years old when she and the boy were alone together in the bedroom of an address in June, 2019.
Again there was initial consensual kissing before he became “rough” and persisted with sexual activity against her wishes. “I kept saying ‘no’,” recalled the girl, who alerted a friend with a string of texts featuring an emoji selected by them previously to signal being in trouble.
During a Snapchat exchange after that second incident, the boy – now aged 17 – spoke of being “carried away”, saying to the girl: “Please don’t tell anyone. It will ruin my life.”
“Both say – and are clear – they repeatedly told him ‘no’,” said prosecutor Adam Lodge. “They didn’t want to engage in sex. Both say they were ignored when they made their protestations.”
The boy denied committing any offences. He denied separate rape charges relating to the two girls, and attempted rape arising out of the second incident.
He was convicted on all three counts by a district judge after a Carlisle youth court trial, and this afternoon had his appeal against the convictions dismissed after a three-day crown court hearing.
Announcing the judgement, Judge Nicholas Barker found there had been no consent to sexual intercourse from the girls, nor any belief of consent by the boy.
He concluded the evidence of both females had been “truthful”.
Judge Barker adjourned the case and directed the youth offending team to prepare a report on the boy, who can’t be identified because of his age, and wept as today’s appeal judgement was delivered.
He was granted unconditional bail until his sentencing on 30th April, and his barrister, Anthony Parkinson, conceded: “Clearly a custodial sentence is almost inevitable, given the nature of the offences as they now are.”
