Woman says Chinese student encouraged her to drink before alleged rape – court

A pistillate alleged she was raped by a Chinese PhD pupil aft helium encouraged her to portion more, a proceedings heard.

Zhenhao Zou, 27, is accused of drugging and raping 10 women successful total, including 3 successful London and 7 successful China.

Pc Tijani said the alleged unfortunate told officers she had gone retired for drinks “with immoderate antheral who encouraged her to portion more” a fewer days earlier aft attending a enactment astatine a friend’s house.

In a witnesser connection work retired by the prosecution, the serviceman added: “However, aft a while, she felt uncomfortable and wanted to travel back, but helium would not fto her travel back.”

The constabulary officer, whose archetypal sanction was not recorded by the court, said the alleged unfortunate explained “she was precise intoxicated and the fishy kept giving her much intoxicant during the night”.

He ever fto maine portion much truthful that I consciousness the portion more. So I privation to travel backmost and helium wouldn’t fto maine travel back

Alleged victim

In body-worn footage played to the court, the alleged unfortunate is heard telling officers during their sojourn to her London address: “He ever fto maine portion much truthful that I consciousness the portion more. So I privation to travel backmost and helium wouldn’t fto maine travel back.

“He didn’t fto maine backmost home.”

The woman, whose autochthonal connection is Mandarin, added: “He raped me.”

Pc Tijani, who attended the telephone alongside Pc Digby and Pc Weller, said successful her witnesser connection that the pistillate “appeared confused” and was “difficult to recognize owed to the connection barrier”.

The constabulary officers asked the alleged unfortunate whether she had been drinking astatine the clip of their sojourn to her code aft determination was disorder astir her account.

In a witnesser connection work retired to jurors, Pc Emily Nice said the alleged unfortunate subsequently disclosed to constabulary that a “girl had approached her and said she had experienced a akin incident”.

The alleged unfortunate was past told successful February 2024 that constabulary had recovered photos connected a instrumentality belonging to Zou during their probe that suggested she had been sexually assaulted, jurors heard.

The pistillate told officers successful March 2024 that she had posted accounts of her acquisition connected the Chinese societal media sites Little Red Book and WeChat.

Jurors were told that constabulary seized aggregate 500ml bottles of butanediol, Xanax tablets, Viagra, and a “folded 10 yuan enactment containing a achromatic crystalline powder” from Zou’s level during searches successful January and February of past year.

Subsequent investigation by constabulary revealed bags of pulverization recovered successful the level contained ketamine and MDMA, the proceedings heard.

As portion of agreed facts, jurors were told, a Huawei mobile phone, a Lenovo hard drive, a laptop, arsenic good arsenic galore cameras and USB sticks were besides seized from the 39th-floor Elephant and Castle flat.

Images were besides recovered connected Zou’s telephone from the Potato messenger app of the cause sevoflurane with “suitable for afloat assemblage anaesthetisation” written connected its packaging, arsenic good arsenic of the tranquiliser triazolam, jurors heard.

Prosecutors accidental Zou filmed 9 of the alleged victims, footage of which has been played successful court.

The pupil moved to Belfast successful 2017 to survey astatine Queen’s University earlier heading to London successful 2019 to bash a master’s grade and past a PhD astatine UCL.

Zou denies 11 counts of rape arsenic good arsenic 3 counts of voyeurism, 12 of possession of an utmost pornographic image, 1 of mendacious imprisonment and 8 of possession of a controlled cause with intent to supply.

He volition reason that the intersexual interactions were consensual, that drugs and intoxicant were consumed by the women voluntarily, and that immoderate of the footage captured progressive relation playing, jurors were told.