A mum-of-three was allegedly repeatedly raped until she died as as she lay on a park bench after a night out, a court has heard.
It’s reported Natalie Shotter was attacked after she collapsed on a night out in West London. Iidow Mohamed, 35, is accused of assaulting the 37-year-old NHS worker in the early hours of July 17, 2021. He has denied the rape and manslaughter charge.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the court that Ms Shotter’s body was found by a passerby hours later as she lay unconscious on a park bench. She said: “What had happened to Natalie was not clear. She had not been stabbed or beaten to death. There were no signs of significant injury to her body, and no one else was with her.
“It has taken time to understand what must have happened to Natalie to cause her death. Crucially, a CCTV camera at some distance away from the bench reveals what happened to her that night.”
The mirror reports that the court was told how Ms Shotter was “vulnerable”, given her struggles with mental health issues, alcohol dependency and drug abuse. Ms Morgan said: “On the night in question, Natalie was out enjoying herself and was taken advantage of by this defendant.
“She was raped repeatedly by this defendant and it was the process of raping her, again and again, that caused her death.”
Ms Morgan continued: “From the footage and the absence of movement by her, Natalie does not appear to have been conscious at the time she was raped, let alone consenting to what the defendant was doing to her. He could never have believed that she was consenting. This defendant’s actions – the process of raping her repeatedly – caused Natalie’s death.”
Ms Shotter was particularly vulnerable on the night she was attacked, the court heard. She was just over 5ft tall and weighed just over six and a half stone (43kg), jurors were told. Ms Morgan said the mum had been drinking, and may have also inhaled amyl nitrate – also known as poppers – but insisted that the legal high did not cause her death.
“The prosecution’s case is that consuming substances made Natalie all the more vulnerable”, she said. “It did not cause her death, but it may well explain how it was that she came to be on that bench in the park, on her own, in the middle of the night, lying on her side, vulnerable to males in that park.”
In CCTV played to court, Ms Shotter was captured walking through the streets and talking on her phone. She was then seen stopping outside a shop to dance to the sound of a drum, with a man and two other women joining her.
Ms Morgan said Ms Shotter did not appear drunk enough to be unable to stand or struggle to walk, adding she appeared “happy”. Jurors were told they will be played further CCTV footage showing Mohamed assaulting her in the park. Yesterday, the 35-year-old spoke only to confirm his name and plead not guilty to rape and manslaughter. The trial continues.
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