Benjamin Kershaw rape trial: Allegation is 'ludicrous'

Benjamin James Kershaw, took to the witness stand to give evidence at his own trial in which he stands accused of raping a woman in the early hours of January 24, 2018.

He told the court how he had known both the woman and the man who would go on to be her partner following the alleged incident, calling him 'a really good friend'.

He said how he and the woman 'went on dates' rather than being in a relationship.

The 41-year-old, of Bishops Way, Winnington, said how he shared 'cheeky banter' with the woman when they met at the birthday party of a mutual friend in December the previous year.

He went on to say how the pair exchanged Facebook messages with each other at the beginning of the year before they swapped numbers and began texting and communicating over WhatsApp.

The messages had been 'flirty in nature' he said and that he invited her to a friend’s 50th birthday party in a fancy venue in Manchester.

He also admitted buying her an expensive pair of Christian Louboutin shoes for the occasion after the woman told him she had 'nothing fancy to wear' to the bash.

Despite admitting to drinking 'heavily' he denied booking a room at the Hilton hotel and that the pair had fallen out because she wanted to go home.

“I actually gave the taxi driver £100 in cash to take her home,” he said.

“I’d already agreed to do this, saying I didn’t expect her to pay for herself to get home.”

Kershaw went on to tell the court how the woman wore the shoes on a date to Piccolino in Chester where he said the pair dined on lobster.

The went on another date, to the Old Session House in Knutsford, and afterwards, how they had sex for the first time, and he stayed over at her house.

He denied raping the woman after visiting her home on January 23, when he brought her chocolates and flowers after her nan had died.

“We watched a film and then fell asleep on the sofa,” he added.

“When we woke, she said ‘I’m going to bed, are you coming?’

“We began kissing and then we had sex – she was on top, and I remember the light coming in over her shoulder making a silhouette.”

He went on to say how he didn’t see her after that night after she found out he had slept with one of her friends which was 'an issue' for her.

However, Kershaw received a text message from the woman on November 12, 2019, in which she said to him: 'call it what you like but I know full well it was non-consensual'.

When asked what he thought about the message he said he 'couldn’t believe it'.

“I was thinking about how they’d had many arguments and I’d been put in the middle of it.

“It was ludicrous.

“I was upset because I was getting caught up in their twisted relationship.

“I had nothing to hide over this.

“Those arguments led to her making a false allegation – that’s what I truly believe.”

Prosecuting barrister Mark Connor told Kershaw he was 'making it up as he went along' which was denied.

“You’re using this as a vehicle for your own defence,” he said.

“As a foundation from which to hang your defence from.

“You said to him (woman’s ex-partner) that you had messages from her that would make her allegations seem 'ridiculous'.

“Where are those messages?

“You’ve got messages that will show the world you are innocent.

“They were your insurance policy.”

Kershaw said he had deleted the woman as a contact from his phone, along with any alleged messages exchanged between the pair.

“I didn’t want her number in my phone,” he explained.

A police officer who led the investigation had earlier told the court how an analysis of Kershaw’s phone, found no evidence of any messages between Kershaw and the woman to indicate they had been in any form of relationship.

The police investigation went had access to some 100k messages on Kershaw’s phone, while searches were also carried out examining the Facebook Messenger archive.

“There was no mention of a relationship, although we did find evidence of others both and before and after the alleged incident,” the officer told the jury.

The trial continues.