Ikeido Thomas was denied bail when he appeared before the Magistrate's court today, April 8, 2013 on charges of rape. Photo: VINO/File

Prosecutors stated that the defendant allegedly befriended a woman before abducting, beating and raping her.

Principal Crown Counsel, Tiffany Scatliffe in outlining the allegations before the court, stated that the Virtual Complainant (VC) was at Perlar’s Bar in Baugher’s Bay on September 28, 2012 at around 12:40A.M., with some acquaintances. While at Perlar’s the VC was socializing with other patrons and drinking; and when her acquaintances decided that they were leaving, the VC decided to stay.

The VC was reportedly harassed by an individual who she did not know and who allegedly made advances to her. The defendant allegedly came to her aide and caused the other individual to stop bothering her.

The defendant later allegedly walked the VC to her vehicle and caused her to believe that he was genuinely concerned about her safety. The court heard that the accused and VC allegedly had a conversation during which, he offered to assist the VC by driving her home in her vehicle while a friend followed in his vehicle behind.

The VC allegedly agreed and eye witnesses allegedly saw the defendant getting into the driver’s seat while the VC got into the passenger’s seat. The defendant then allegedly drove the VC’s vehicle in the vicinity of Road Town and was proceeding to the Waterfront when the VC allegedly became alarmed as the defendant was driving in the opposite direction of where the VC wanted to go.

It was stated that the VC became even more alarmed when she noted that there was no vehicle following behind. She allegedly asked the defendant more than once to turn the vehicle around and take her to Perlar’s, but he remained silent and continued.

The court was further told that the defendant drove the VC’s vehicle to a dark, isolated area of Ellis Thomas Downs in Sea Cows Bay, close to where he reportedly lives. The man allegedly stopped the vehicle and attacked the VC.
It was stated that the VC tried to run away but the defendant caught up with her, beat, threatened, sexually assaulted her and forced her to commit gross acts of indecency.

According to Scatliffe, the VC got an opportunity to escape and ran away, leaving the defendant with her keys. The woman then ran to the Sea Cows Bay public road and was followed by the defendant. When he caught up with her he handed over the vehicle keys and told her if she told anyone about what had happened he would kill her husband and children. He allegedly told the defendant that he knew where she lived.

The court heard that the VC grabbed her keys from out of his hands and kept running, and as she ran he allegedly yelled, “Your car , your car, you can’t leave your car like that.”

Scatliffe said that the VC ran and hid by a nearby house and she eventually met someone who called the Police. It was mentioned that the Police took the VC to the hospital where she was examined and swabs were taken. It was announced that as a result of police investigations the defendant was met on February 7, 2013 and arrested on suspicion of rape. He allegedly told the police: “I don’t know anything about any rape, yall got the wrong person.” It was stated that the defendant admitted that he was at Perlar’s Bar on the night in question but denied the other allegations. He also volunteered a DNA sample.

In March 2013 the police received forensic reports and the result showed that the Defendant’s DNA was found on the VC. As a result the Defendant was rearrested on April 5. The court heard that the Defendant still maintains his innocence.

Scatliffe told the Court that the Crown objected to bail because the VC is living in fear and the nature of the allegations are serious. She stated that it is the view of the Police, that the Defendant is capable of interfering with witnesses.

According to Scatliffe, although the Defendant is a BVIslander, he is unemployed and therefore there were not enough ties to the Territory. She also mentioned that there is a likelihood that the accused may try to leave the Territory.

After looking at some of the case evidence, Magistrate Richards told the Defendant that there is no reason for the case to languish before her because she has no jurisdiction to deal with the matter. She suggested that the matter be dealt with via paper committal in order to make the next High Court Assizes.

Magistrate Richards explained that the DNA report states the defendant’s genetic profile was found to be mixed with that of the VC’s. She also announced that this was compelling because DNA repeats in every 230 trillion persons, and therefore noted that the world population is only six billion,  “Based on the evidence," she said, "it makes no sense for you to waste money and time to fight at this stage…the matter will be transferred to the High Court.”

Magistrate Richards then denied bail and adjourned the matter to May 2, 2013.