10:18am Wednesday 5th November 2008
SCARS found on a man accused of rape matched acid burns on the 17-year-old victim, a burns specialist told the Old Bailey.
John Settle OBE, a forensic burns consultant, examined a photograph of Bruno Abrantes, 24, from Tottenham, and found four scars on his leg. He said the marks “were consistent with” a caustic soda burn.
Abrantes is one of seven men on trial at Wood Green Crown Court for allegedly gang-raping the teenager in January this year.
After the alleged rape the girl was covered “head-to-toe” with a solution commonly used as paint stripper to hide DNA evidence, the prosecution claims.
Bradley Daley-Smith, 21, and Miguel Almeida, 22, both from Edmonton, Opeyemi Ismeil, 20, of no fixed address, Hector Muaimba, 20, from Walthamstow, Jason Brew, 18, and Rogel McMorris, also 18, all from Tottenham deny rape charges.
McMorris, Daley-Smith, Abrantes, Brew and Muaimba, also deny grievous bodily harm.
Mr Settle said: “Looking at Abrantes’ skin you can see four spots are darker than the rest. This type of injury is quite unusual. I noticed it straightaway because the first time I saw something like this was in pictures of the injuries found on the victim’s body.”
More than 50 per cent of the teenager’s body was affected, and the schoolgirl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered severe burns to her face, neck, chest and buttocks.
The consultant told the court the burns to the victim’s genitalia suggested caustic soda had been specifically applied to that area.
After the ordeal, the teenager had to be washed with high-powered water jets to remove the caustic soda which burns through skin and muscle.
She has undergone numerous skin grafts to repair the damage, the court heard Monday.
Andre De Moller, defending Abrantes, claimed the injuries were old burns caused by an accident with hot oil when the 24-year-old was a boy.
He pointed to a report by Dr Kappa, the police surgeon who examined Abrantes three weeks after the alleged incident, who agreed the injuries were old.
He questioned the validity of Mr Settle’s judgment, which was based on studying photographs.
A scenes of crime officer showed exhibits found at the house in Anthill Road, Tottenham, where the alleged attack happened.
These included men’s clothing covered in caustic soda residue, condom wrappers and a blood-stained tissue.
The trial continues.
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