The trial has started of two men who are charged with raping a teenage girl who was “the worse for wear” after drinking with friends in Brighton.
Ashley Lewis and Dylan Holden are accused of raping and sexually assaulting the 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, late one night in June last year.
Lewis, 36, of Lait House, Albemarle Road, Beckenham, south east London, and Holden, 18, of Avalon, West Street, Brighton, deny the charges.
Rachel Beckett, prosecuting, told a jury at Hove Crown Court that she knew one of the men and met the other on the beach in Brighton on a night out with friends.
Miss Beckett said: “After spending some time chatting in a group on Brighton beach, (the complainant) recalls nothing more about that evening.
“However, the police have been able to piece together what happened from various CCTV cameras and witnesses.
“While (the complainant) was intoxicated to such a degree that she could no longer walk without assistance, the two defendants took her into the Pavilion Gardens in Brighton and sexually assaulted her. She was unable to consent to any sexual activity at the time.
“After that, the two men walked her a short distance further into the park and laid her down on the grass. She was further sexually assaulted at that time.
“Passers-by eventually stopped and challenged what was happening. Lewis ran away, taking (the complainant’s) bag containing her mobile phone with him.
“Those passers-by took (the complainant) to her home in a taxi. She was medically examined the following day. You will hear that DNA evidence links both defendants to a sexual assault on (the complainant).
“Each defendant blames the other … The crown’s case is clear. Both men were involved in the sexual attacks on (the complainant). Both men were jointly responsible for the sexual attacks on her.”
Miss Beckett also said: “(The complainant) spent the evening chatting to her friends on the beach. She drank some vodka and lemonade but not much. She said that she wasn’t drunk.
“One of her friends had bought her a small bottle of vodka, which she mixed with lemonade. She felt a bit tipsy, bordering on drunk.
“She has previously drunk the same amount of alcohol without experiencing any issues relating to her memory.
“The last thing that (the complainant) recalls that evening was sitting with (Lewis) – and he was rolling a cigarette.
“She remembered that the cigarette tasted a ‘little bit weird’ but she thought it might have been either the alcohol that she’d had or the tobacco was stale.
“She was with Lewis and they were sitting on a wall and then on the pebbles on the beach, a couple of metres away from her friends.
“The next memory she has is waking up on the floor in her bedroom. She could not find her bag or phone.
“She spoke to her mother who told her that she had got home at 1am. She hadn’t at that time had her bag or her phone.
“Her mother then told her that the police were at the house wanting to speak to her. She was confused as she could not remember leaving the beach or getting home.
“However, her vagina was painful and she was scared as she did not know what had happened to her.”
Lewis, formerly of Gloucester Gardens, London, admitted two charges of voyeurism on Brighton beach on Wednesday 2 June last year. He filmed two women on the beach as they were trying to change under their towels.
The sex attacks were alleged to have happened later the same day. Both men deny rape and sexual assault.
Lewis denies further charges of assaulting a woman in London and sexually assaulting her.
The trial continues.
