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Teen takes stand in assault case

The victim of an alleged sex attack has defended her account of the assault at the ongoing trial of the four men accused in the incident.

All four — aged 21, 20, 20 and 19 respectively — have denied a charge of serious sexual assault on July 27 of last year.

One, aged 20, is also accused of supplying the victim with alcohol in order to use her for sexual purposes.

The latter is defended by lawyer Richard Horseman, who suggested to the girl — aged 14 at the time of the offences — that his client “never had sex with you at all” on the night in question.

“Yes — he did,” the victim replied. None of the parties involved can be identified for legal reasons.

Taking the stand on Wednesday, the girl told the court she was coerced by the men into drinking liquor at a party under a tent in the back yard of the accused man’s residence.

The jury also heard she was subsequently raped by the accused and another man, while an unnamed male not before the court forced her to perform oral sex. The incident was reported to police later that night, and a formal statement given on July 30.

The 20-year-old man who was claimed to have invited the girl and her friend, also aged 14, was said to have met her via Facebook.

Lawyer Duante Williams, who represents another of the accused, questioned the victim about pictures of herself that she had posted on the social media site, and which were accessible from there.

“It’s correct that people often compliment you on your looks?” Mr Williams asked her, to which the victim agreed. “And it’s correct that you are mature for your age, and you try to hang around people that are mature?”

The girl answered: “Not necessarily.”

She maintained that she did not engage in drinking and had not planned on consuming alcohol at the social events she and her friend had planned for the Cup Match weekend.

The court has also heard that the victim repeatedly asked the men assaulting her to stop.

“You said that when these acts were going on, you were screaming out ‘Stop, stop, stop’ — there was not that much going on in the neighbourhood,” Mr Williams suggested. “It was a pretty quiet night.”

“I wasn’t screaming,” the victim said. “But I said it loud enough for them to hear me.”

The trial continues on Tuesday.