Thomas Mason, 28, is accused of slapping and strangling the woman during the alleged offence at the Welsh music festival
A woman was raped in her tent at Green Man Festival by a man who slapped and strangled her while she was forced to lie on her stomach, a court has heard. The man denies rape and claims sexual activity between the two of them was consensual.
Thomas Mason, 28, is accused of raping the alleged victim and of sexually assaulting her by penetration at the annual music festival in Crickhowell, Powys. The complainant was later heard crying in her tent and fears the defendant may have taken an image of her on his phone.
A trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Monday heard Mason and the complainant were not known to each other, but met while dancing in a tent. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here.
The woman said she had been drinking alcohol and had taken ecstasy that night.
She and the defendant began kissing and they agreed to go back to her tent.
They had consensual sexual intercourse but the complainant found it painful and asked Mason to stop, which he did.
But after a while she felt the defendant touch her between her legs and said he slapped her to the face and to her breasts.
It is alleged he then put his penis inside the complainant’s vagina and raped her. She was in pain and told him to stop, but she says he refused.
In her opening, prosecutor Clare Wilks said: “(The complainant) described her body feeling limp and was confused about what was happening. She told him to stop and she was frightened as she was worried he would become more violent. She felt like a ragdoll and dissociated.”
The court heard Mason placed the complainant on her front and put his hands around her neck before allegedly raping her again.
The woman said the defendant then spat on his finger and inserted it into her. Mason was then accused of ejaculating on the complainant.
Speaking in a pre recorded video interview played to the court, the complainant said: “I didn’t want to aggravate or antagonise him, he’d already been getting too angry. During he was slapping me around my face and boobs and he strangled me but not so hard I lost consciousness.
“When he finished he was on his phone. I couldn’t see him, I was facing down, but I saw the light from the screen on his phone and heard the sound it makes when you send a text. He started shining his phone light. When he was looking for his boxers, he was getting quite angry about that because he couldn’t find them. He shone his torch between my legs and spread my cheeks and shone a torch there.”
She told the interviewing officer she felt she had no choice but to “wait for it to stop”. She added: “I knew I couldn’t get out, I was trapped in a tent and he was raping me. I just wanted to keep my eyes closed because I didn’t want to see his face.”
After Mason left the tent, the complainant’s friend heard her crying and calling for her. She told her friend “He raped me”.
They went to the security and medical tent and the police were called. She was found to have suffered a linear laceration to her vagina.
The complainant gave a description of Mason and an efit image was publicised.
The defendant and his mother saw the appeal, and contacted the police which led to Mason being arrested.
During his police interview, he said he and the complainant had engaged in consensual sexual intercourse and sexual activity, and he stopped when she told him she was in pain.
He denied raping the woman or sexually assaulting her, and denied slapping her or being violent towards her.
Mason, of John Williams Close, Brockley, London, has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault.
The trial continues.
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