Archie Reed is accused of attempting to rape his former school classmate
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736938/Student-raped-former-public-schoolboy-admits-drunk-got-bed-denies-kissing-him.html#ixzz3Bi7nMr5X
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- 20-year-old allegedly groped her while she slept after spending time at pub
- Reed stayed with alleged victim because he had missed the last Tube home
- Alleged victim says she awoke to find her clothes removed and Reed on her
- Reed denies attempted rape and assault by penetration and trial continues
A student who claims a former public school classmate tried to rape her has admitted she was drunk when she invited him back to her accommodation and got into bed with him.
The 20-year-old woman had been drinking all evening when she went back to her halls of residence with currency trader Archie Read, also 20, and suggested he stay the night.
Reed, who met his alleged victim years ago at a top independent school which cannot be identified for legal reasons, is accused of groping the woman as she slept.
Former public schoolboy Archie Reed, 20, denies attempting to rape and the assault by penetration of his former class mate after they met at a pub in Warren Street in London where they drank a bottle of wine
A jury at the Old Bailey, in London, heard how he allegedly pulled off the woman’s pyjama bottoms and knickers and pounced on her while she was asleep next to him on October 8 last year.
When she woke up, she allegedly felt Reed groping her and screamed for him to get out of her bedroom.
She claimed he was so panicked after the incident that he fled her room without his trousers.
The court heard how the woman had been to a drinks reception for top law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and had met Reed in a pub in Tottenham Court Road, central London, afterwards.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736938/Student-raped-former-public-schoolboy-admits-drunk-got-bed-denies-kissing-him.html#ixzz3Bi7nMr5X
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‘I was drunk - but I wasn’t blind drunk,’ she told the Old Bailey jury.
‘My memory of what happened is a bit patchy.’
By the time they stopped drinking Reed’s last Tube home had gone and the woman invited him back to her accommodation.
As they walked back they held hands, had their arms around each other and she kissed him on the cheek.
The Old Bailey heard that the alleged victim invited Reed, 20, pictured, back to her accommodation in London as it was late and the Tube had finished
‘He had come to see me so it seemed only fair that he didn’t have to pay a huge amount of money for a cab home,’ she explained.
They had been good friends and the woman said: ‘The reason I kissed him was because we had been talking about how much we had missed each other.’
When they got back to the room Reed stripped down to his boxer shorts and the student took off clothes.
She said she was wearing shorts, and a vest top but did not have a bra on underneath.
When they got into her bed she said Reed lay on his back and she turned with her back to him.
‘We were not spooning. He did not have his arm around me. I vividly remember this.
‘I didn’t mind him sleeping in my bed. It was meaningless. It wasn’t like we were cuddling. There was a boundary I didn’t expect him to cross.’
Reed claims the student kissed him, moved her bottom into his groin and lifted herself up so he could pull down her knickers.
He claims he only touched the woman and stopped when she told him she did not want sex.
‘That not how it was,’ she sobbed. ‘We didn’t kiss in any way once we were back at my halls.
‘I didn’t kiss him. I didn’t spoon him. I didn’t insinuate I wanted to be spooned.’
She said she fell asleep and awoke to find Reed groping her and screamed for him to get out of her bedroom.
‘I was hysterical. I was screaming. I was in utter shock. I don’t think I could remember my own name at that point,’ she said.
She said her shorts were off and Reed was panicking and grabbing his clothes.
‘He literally got off me, got his stuff and started swearing. He left. I don’t think he even had his trousers on.
‘He wasn’t upset. He just panicked. I have never seen him like that before.’
She admitted she called Reed after he sent her a text saying: ‘I didn’t do it all I promise x”
‘I wanted to hear his explanation as to what he had done. I felt something had happened. I knew something had happened but I didn’t know what.
‘I wanted to know what he had done to me.’
Later that morning she went to a chemist for the morning after pill and the police were called after she explained what had happened.
Reed, a currency consultant at Smart Currency Business who lives in Hammersmith, west London, denies attempted rape and assault by penetration.
The alleged victim told police that she awoke to find Reed, pictured, on top of her on October 8 last year
The young woman’s boyfriend said he did not know she had agreed to share a bed with Reed, but said it would not have upset him.
Giving evidence, he said his girlfriend had sent him two texts that night, but did not mention whether she was still with Reed.
He was unaware she had kissed Reed on the cheek, held his hand as they walked home, and wrapped their arms around each other during a stop at a supermarket.
'That night, did she tell you she told Archie he was able to sleep in her bed', asked Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defending.
'She didn't tell me that', he replied.
The Old Bailey heard that the alleged victim and Reed met up for the first time in a year following a school reunion in mid-September and agreed to meet again. However, the alleged victim denies kissing Reed
However, he said it would not have been a problem even if he had known.
'They had previously shared a bed or a sofa at a house party', he explained.
'I had my reservations about Archie, but they were friends for a number of years.'
He said she had kissed friends on the cheek and held other boys' hands while at school and had held hands with Reed on occasions.
The boyfriend, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he received a call at 2.39am from his girlfriend shortly after the alleged attack.
'She was crying and hysterical, and I spent a few minutes calming her down', he said.
'I did say “what happened” and she said Archie came back and she said he could sleep on the floor and get up for work in the morning.
'She just said “I woke up and he was on top of me.”'
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins defending Reed said the content of the alleged victims' text messages 'could have been misinterpreted' by her client as she would end her communications with a number of crosses and kisses
Archie Reed, right, tried to call and text his alleged victim after the incident to explain what had happened
He told the jury she did not seem drunk, but conceded he was unaware how much she had drunk that night.
'She was sobbing, she was obviously sniffing, and she was stuttering because she was crying as well as speaking', he said.
'She didn't seem drunk, she wasn't slurring her words.'
He said he had been the first to mention the word 'rape' on that phone call.
He said to her: 'I want you to be very clear, did he rape you’, and she replied: 'I don't know.'
He added that Reed had tried to blame the incident on his girlfriend, when he called her later that night.
'He said it was my fault that it happened, and he said it was my fault I invited him back to my room,’ said the woman, who relayed it to her boyfriend.
The trial continues.
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