A jury has cleared a Hove man of two counts of raping a “friend with benefits” after a week-long trial.
Keiran Wilkinson, 27, was accused of raping the woman more than five years ago, in May 2018, when she was 18.
The woman, who is now 24 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury that she had wanted to explore her “darker urges” with Wilkinson.
Dale Sullivan, prosecuting, said: “(She) and the defendant were friends and their relationship developed into a casual sexual relationship where they indulged in various consensual sexual fantasies including rape play and bondage.
“There was an agreement whereby if one person wanted the sexual activity to stop, they had an agreed series of ‘safe words’ that could be used – blackberry, pine and pineapple.”
Mr Sullivan said that there was disagreement about what happened and the prosecution case was that the complainant did not consent and that Wilkinson did not reasonably believe that she was consenting.
Wilkinson, who has Asperger’s syndrome, said in a prepared statement to Sussex Police after his arrest: “(She) said no but I took that as our usual play. She did not use the safe word ‘pineapple’. The acts were entirely consensual.”
The woman told the jury at Hove Crown Court that when Wilkinson came to her Hangleton home, “the purpose of the visit was to have sex.”
But she found it painful, she said, adding: “We had a safe word and I was saying it quite a few times and he carried on and it hurt quite a lot.”
Mr Sullivan told the jury of five men and seven women: “Ordinarily, no means no. In this case, no doesn’t necessarily mean no.”
Wilkinson, a former Blatchington Mill pupil, told the jury that he realised that the woman had stopped responding in the usual way so he stopped what he was doing.
The woman told the jury that when she started seeing a new partner, she told him what had happened and he urged her to go to the police, as did a friend.
Wilkinson was arrested at his home, in Arthur Street, Hove, and later charged with two counts of rape during what had been a relatively brief incident.
Beverley Cherrill, defending, said that soon after the alleged rape, within days, the couple were messaging each other and saw each other again and she even invited Wilkinson out on her birthday.
Police examined both of their mobile phones but none of the messages on either of their phones suggested that he had raped her.
Miss Cherrill told the jury that Wilkinson reasonably believed that he had consent to do something that the pair had already spoken about.
And before the couple had sex – on a date in May 2018 that neither could remember – Wilkinson was a man of good character.
After the jury returned two not guilty verdicts earlier today (Friday 27 October), Judge Mark Van Der Zwart told Wilkinson that he was free to go.
Thought so ,a male reporter ! You clearly made it sound that the poor woman was lying ! Would you have worded it the same if god forbid it happend to a member of your family or friend ?! I doubt it very much
I didn’t get that impression at all.
The accused being found not guilty does not mean the jury thought she was lying.
They believed that she wasn’t raped based on all the evidence they heard. And they heard it all not like us commenting on a brief article.
Also if this was a friend or relative of Frank it’s very unlikely he’d have been sent to report on this case
This is why both sides should have anonymity un till the court has reached its decision. Then the name of the accused can be revealed if found guilty and if other incidents have happened, others can come forward. In this case, the young woman lied and her name should be made public so potential suitors will know that she is to be avoided. The young man may have been exonerated but mud sticks and his private life has been aired in pubic, whereas she gets off Scott free. They want equality but then not if it does not suit them. Equality in all things.
Very happy to hear he’s been allowed to go home to his family. Unfortunately in this particular situation, he went through a lot of unnecessary stress and years of his life affected. Hopefully she can find peace in her mistake and allow him to move on.
What sort of woman wants to pretend to be raped then blames the man absolutely disgusting for real victims.
And how come you can post all his details and not hers she’s not the victim here .
I hope this poor lad can get his life on track people.
I hope you post this as I think both opinions should be shared.
To reiterate that he was found not guilty does not mean she was lying about her experience.
Remember the Crown Prosecution Service would have been confident in her claim otherwise they wouldn’t have prosecuted him for rape in the first place.
it’s totally wrong of you to make any such claim that she lied.
They examined the evidence and found him innocent. That would lead most sane people to deduce she was guilty of lying in court for her own reasons. The CPS are under pressure to try and get more rape convictions and will put the most thin cases before the courts. Take out a private prosecution chap and sue her into next week.
No they found him not guilty which isn’t the same as innocent.
And those suposedly sane people would be wrong in assuming not guilty = she lied.
The victim would have been interviewed by the police and then by the CPS – likely more than once – if either though she was lying they would never have brought the case.
And this is what the CPS website says
“If the defendant is found not guilty, that doesn’t mean you weren’t believed or that people thought you were lying. It simply means the jury couldn’t be ‘satisfied so they were sure’ that the defendant was guilty.”
https://www.cps.gov.uk/rasso-guide/verdict-and-sentencing-0
Nobody in these cases should be named until there is a conviction.
I agree. Innocent until proven guilty.
I can verify now he is home and being taken care of by his family, and he’ll be receiving the necessary support for his mental health. Thank you to everyone who has supported him and most importantly, thank you to the court.
Of course it was rape. She was traumatised, and reacted by saying no. The male did not understand, he was wrong but it was judged as a mistake. So it was a ‘bad shag!’. There is clear difference, it felt wrong it was wrong to continue, it stopped. It was a horrible mistake.
To view it as blaming either person is to under estimate how these games can go wrong. It is a lesson in communication, & what is needed to make this kind of play safe. If your not married, the safe word is ‘No’.
Marriage has nothing to do with it. Let’s make that perfectly clear.