A young man allegedly raped a woman in a tent at Rattler Fest after she told him she didn't want things to go any further, a jury has been told. Kieran Seagar, 26, allegedly sexually assaulted the woman while she was very drunk at the annual festival held near Truro.
Seagar, from East Leigh Farm in Harsham, near Bude, is currently on trial at Truro Crown Court charged with one count of rape.
Opening the case today (Wednesday, January 28), prosecution counsel Brian Fitzherbert told the jury the charge relates to events in the early hours of Sunday, April 23, 2023. Mr Fitzherbert described how Seagar and the alleged victim were acquaintances who noticed on Snapchat that they were both attending the same festival, held at Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm in Penhallow.
He said the alleged victim had been comfortable kissing the defendant on the night in question but that she did not want things to go further. She told him 'no' at least twice, but he persisted anyway and allegedly raped her.
He told the court the alleged victim camped on site for the weekend and got "very drunk" on the second night of the festival. He said she was so drunk she was dressed in only a rugby shirt, pants and shoes prior to the alleged incident.
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After she was allegedly raped, she went to security guards and couldn't tell them where her trousers were. She described her memory as "very patchy".
She remembered walking to the campsite with the defendant and being asked where her trousers were by a security guard. That security guard described her as friendly, in high spirits and helping check wristbands before the incident.
She was asked to leave and stop helping them and between five and ten minutes later she came back and was crying in front of the security guards. She said she remembered being in a tent but didn't know whose it was.
Mr Fitzherbert added that the alleged victim said she sat on Seagar's lap and kissed the defendant but when he tried to go further she said no. He said she was clear that she didn't want anything more to happen.
"Her first thought was that he must not have heard her but then he started having sex with her despite her saying no," Mr Fitzherbert said. Despite her saying no again, the defendant then allegedly held his hands on her leg and "forced himself" inside of her.
She later told security guards she had been 'almost raped' and sexually assaulted. Police attended later that evening, the defendant was arrested and interviewed by police.
During a police interview, Seagar had said she had 'instigated' and 'directed' everything sexual and that he had done as she directed. He said she was the one who took out his penis and inserted it into her vagina and claimed that later she changed her mind about having sex so the two of them had instead danced. He said there was no falling out, arguing or unpleasantness between the two.
Concluding the opening of the case, Mr Fitzherbert said it would become clear that both versions of events were "starkly different". In video footage of the alleged victim's police interview, played to the court, she described how she had felt she couldn't trust Seagar throughout the weekend and didn't want to tell him where her tent was despite him asking. She said instead she would meet him at the main festival stage.
She described being comfortable kissing later that evening in the tent but when it went further she said no and didn't think he heard her so said it again. He then allegedly put his hand on her thigh and then pushed into her as she told him no again before pushing him off and running to security.
She also told the interviewer that she had a pint of Rattler, a can of pornstar martini and then didn't drink until the main festival later that day. She remembered having two more rattlers that evening but didn't remember how many after that before the incident.
She said she was told she should report it "a few times" but she was "scared" because she had never spoken to the police before. She described being "upset", "angry' and "blaming myself for what happened". She attended a paramedics tent and police were called and attended that night.
The trial continues.
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