Woman felt 'helpless' as Slowthai and friend 'fist-bumped' while assaulting her, court hears

The 29-year-old, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, and his friend Alex Blake-Walker, 27, are both on trial at Oxford Crown Court for the rape of two women in the early hours of September 8, 2021.

Frampton and Blake-Walker are accused of raping the women at a house party following a performance in Oxford. The two were introduced to the women after a gig at The Bullingdon, and the group later went to a flat for the party.

According to the prosecution, Blake-Walker raped one woman while Frampton encouraged him, and then Frampton raped the second woman while being encouraged by Blake-Walker. Both defendants are also accused of sexually assaulting the woman whom Frampton is alleged to have raped.

In her police interview a week after the incident, the woman explained that she had been drinking and had taken ketamine and cocaine that night. She described how both men began touching her indecently as she climbed the stairs at the flat. Later, she said, she climbed through a bedroom window onto the roof where Frampton pushed her to the ground and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

“I said stop to him. Slowthai was trying to pull my hair so I would continue giving him oral sex,” she told officers. “They were saying, ‘No it’s safe, we’ll look after you… it’s safe with us’. They were saying, ‘It’s so great, can’t believe this is happening’ and fist-bumping each other.”

The woman went on to describe the second alleged rape, where Frampton pushed her into a wall and began having sex with her. She said she “hadn’t said no” and “just pretended I wasn’t really there.” At one point, she said, she asked to go inside. Blake-Walker, who was masturbating nearby, then allegedly attempted to get her to perform oral sex on him while Frampton continued the assault.

“I just shut my eyes and waited for it to be done,” the woman said. “He was frustrated by the angle because I wasn’t co-operating. He then moved me and lay me on the floor.”

The woman’s friend, who had come to the window, eventually intervened, telling the men to leave and calling them “weirdos.”

The woman also described hearing the other complainant retching and saying she did not want to go through with the assault, while Frampton and Blake-Walker continued to fist-bump each other and make comments like “tag team.”

During her police interview, the woman explained why she did not directly tell Frampton to stop. “I didn’t want them to be aggressive towards me. I didn’t want to ruin it, so that’s why I didn’t say stop,” she said. “I felt helpless, like my body was not my own and I wasn’t really a person, and I was just a ‘thing’ and they were going to do stuff regardless.”

She added, “I knew they were not going to leave the roof until they got what they wanted.”

Frampton, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, and Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south-east London, deny three joint charges of rape and one of sexual assault against the two women.

The trial continues.