9:30am Friday 24th October 2008
By Elizabeth Pears
A teenager has described the moment when acid was poured over her naked body after allegedly being gang-raped.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Wood Green Crown Court she was in a dark room at a house in Anthill Road, Tottenham, on January 9 when the attack happened.
Giving evidence via video link, the victim told how she was covered in what she thought was boiling water as she crouched down to put her clothes back on following the alleged rape.
Her screams caught the attention of neighbours who called emergency services.
Later in hospital, doctors confirmed the burning sensation had been caused by the reaction of caustic soda with cold water.
After the alleged attack, the teenager, who has the mental age of an eight-year-old, was unable to talk for a month and left permanently disfigured.
The girl said in evidence on Wednesday: “It was boiling water. I know it was boiling water because my skin started to turn pink.
“I started to scream. I have never screamed like that in my whole life.”
On trial charged with rape are Bradley Daley-Smith, 21, and Miguel Almedia, 22, both from Edmonton, Ismail Opeyemi, 20, of no fixed address, Hector Muaimba, 20, from Walthamstow, and Bruno Abrantes, 24, Jason Brew, 18, and Rogel McMorris, also 18, all from Tottenham.
McMorris, Daley-Smith, Abrantes, Brew and Muaimba are additionally charged with grievous bodily harm.
The accused deny all charges.
Stella Reynolds, defending, asked the girl: “Did things change in the room then? Did the boys start to panic?”
The teenager replied: “No, they didn’t panic. They were laughing and then they ran away.”
The college student told the court how a man had invited her back to his house in Tottenham on the night of the alleged attack. She said they were about to have sex but claimed they were interrupted by one of his friends.
The girl agreed to a ‘threesome’ and went with the man and two of his friends to the empty Anthill Road house.
But halfway through the sex session, the two friends left and two others came into the dark room asking the girl to perform sex acts on them, which was not part of the agreement, the prosecution alleged.
Several other boys were lingering in the corridor, the prosecution claimed.
On Tuesday the court heard how the teenager had lied to police about a previous sexual assault.
In a previous taped interview, the girl had told police she had been raped by a man she knew when they went out for a drive in his car.
But when cross-examined she told the jury she could not remember making the accusation and had consented to sex with the man.
The trial continues.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/trade_directory/