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Police officers 'found attempted rape victim completely naked', jury told

Kiss Bar, Park End Street Picture: Ed Nix
Kiss Bar, Park End Street Picture: Ed Nix

A Frenchman found with his shorts around his ankles was said to have been about to rape a woman he met on a night out.

Jean Aubree, 32, is accused of attempting to rape the woman in the early hours of June 23, 2018, after meeting her at the Kiss bar in Park End Street, Oxford. He denies the allegation.

Opening the case against Aubree yesterday (January 30), prosecutor Hugh Forgan told jurors at Oxford Crown Court that three special constables saw the defendant in a side alley with his shorts and underwear down, while the alleged victim was completely unclothed.

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As the officers approached, the man was said to have pulled up his shorts. The constables believed that Aubree was about to have sex with the woman.

The complainant was ‘completely naked’ when the officers arrived, Mr Forgan told jurors. “The officers say in their opinion she was unconscious [when they arrived]. They shone a torch in her face and she began to come round.”

As they spoke to her, the woman’s speech was said to have been ‘unclear and slurred at times, as if under the influence’.

Earlier that evening, the woman had been out drinking at a couple of pubs before taking a taxi to the Kiss bar – arriving at around 1am.

On CCTV she could be seen dancing with the defendant, the jury was told. Mr Forgan said the woman could ‘remember someone at some point taking her drink and giving it back to her’.

“[She] has very little memory of what happens after the dancing at Kiss bar. She doesn’t remember leaving the bar. She doesn’t remember what happens between leaving the bar and the time she’s seen naked by the officers,” the prosecutor said.

The club’s CCTV showed that she had gone into the women’s toilets ‘for some time’, while Aubree ‘waits for her’. They walked away from the bar together shortly after 3am, the jury was told.

In his police interview after his arrest, Aubree was said to have told detectives in a prepared statement that he was dancing with the complainant. While in the bar they had kissed and, after leaving the club together, had become intimate. He claimed the woman had removed her own clothes.

Mr Forgan said the defendant was expected to say the alleged victim was awake and consenting, albeit to sexual activity but not intercourse.

“If [the officers are] right, she’s unconscious on their arrival, there can simply be no question, no issue of consent. The defence say no, she did know what was going on, she was able to consent to what happened and did consent,” the prosecutor said.

Aubree, of Park End Street, Oxford, denies attempted rape. The trial continues.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward