Farmer Jailed For £1M-Plus VAT Fraud

A Horsham farmer was today sentenced to three years and eight months imprisonment for a VAT fraud.

Gayne Cooper, 62, who has two company directorships, appeared at Lewes Crown Court.

He had earlier appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to one count of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT between April 1, 2013 and December 10, 2019.

Cooper, of Stonehouse Farm, Plummers Plain was said by the prosecution to be responsible for a £1.7m fraud.

He maintained the VAT figure was nearer £1.5m.

Cooper is a director of Hammer Valley Farm and Biowaste Recovery.

At the initial Magistrates Court appearance District Judge Devinder Sandhu announced: “The defendant has pleaded guilty to a serious offence. 

“It is a serious matter,” she told Cooper. “You have indicated a guilty plea to this court, which does not have sufficient sentencing powers to deal with you.”

Retrial For Accused "Can I Have A Go?" Rapist

A homeless passer-by, accused of raping an A-Level art student after asking: “Can I have a go?” has learned he will face a re-trial on the charge .

Rough sleeper Wesley Roden, 33, will return to Southwark Crown Court on June 10, next year to fight the allegation.

An eleven-strong jury failed to reach a majority 10-1 verdict either way after a week-long trial.

The complainant, who was 18 years-old at the time, told the trial she was being raped by a mystery male in Victoria Embankment Gardens, Charing Cross when Roden arrived on the scene.

She had gone to the West End with three female friends and after drinking a large quantity of alcohol and consuming drugs ended up in the small secure park with an unknown man she met in nearby Heaven nightclub in the early hours of August 16, 2019.

Roden, of Museum Street, Warrington told police he had consensual intercourse with the student after stumbling upon the pair having sex on the grass.

After one juror was discharged during the trial the remaining eleven members confirmed not even a majority verdict of ten of them was a prospect and Recorder Tom Forster KC announced: “I don’t have any option but to discharge the jury in this case.

“You have all done your best and you should be proud of yourselves,” he told them. “Thank-you for your time, energy and concentration.”

Champion Bodybuilder Stalked Ex

Guilty: Baldwinson

A champion bodybuilder stalked his ex-girlfriend after she dumped him via WhatsApp - leaving foul-mouthed voice messages about her suspected new boyfriend, a court heard.

Eighteen-stone Danny Baldwinson, 32, a former winner of Hercules Olympia, kept pestering business graduate Aaliyah Baptiste, 26, ignoring her protests to be left alone.

Three of his abusive phone calls were played to Croydon Magistrates Court, in which he describes his new suspected love rival as “an ugly f***ing kid.”

He also branded the man as a “four out of ten” and said: “I am embarrassed. What an ugly f***ing kid, from f***ing Bulgaria.”

Baldwinson, of Clayton Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme was found guilty of stalking the marketing specialist - who also posts her own work-out pictures - between July 1 and August 8, last year.

The conviction puts him in breach of a sixty-day suspended prison sentence, imposed last year for breaching a non-molestation order, relating to another complainant.

After a year of dating, working-out together and holidaying in Turkey, Ms Baptiste ended the relationship. “I did not want anymore contact, but he did not agree to end things,” she told the trial from behind a screen.

“He said we could still be friends and train together, but I did not want that and blocked him. He tried to call me and I blocked the number and then he tried via social media and I blocked him again.

“At my gym, Muscleworks in Orpington he would come at the times he knew I would be there to show he was there in my life.

“I would ignore him, but he would try and talk to me and asked: ‘Can we discuss this?’ but I told him: ‘I don’t want to talk to you,’ I wanted to get on with my day.

"Scared": Baptiste

“He would pick the times I was training to see me and start a conversation. I started to go to a different gym so I would not have to see him.”

Father-of-two Baldwinson claimed Ms Baptiste knew his strict exercise and diet routine inside out and ensured she was at the gym at the same time he was.

She eventually called the police when he unexpectedly turned up at 8.00am at the bedroom window of the Hayes, Bromley home she shares with her mother and other family members.

“I was getting ready for work and heard a knocking at my bedroom window and I opened the curtain slightly and could see who it was.”

Baldwinson told the court he was expected and was only there to collect his passport, some clothing and nutritional supplements after the split.

“He was demanding answers from me and assuming I had a new partner and was saying: ‘I want answers. How could you meet someone so soon?’

“I called my mum into my room and we were both telling him to leave and that we did not want him there.”

Bodybuilder: Baldwinson

They recorded the confrontation and the magistrates viewed footage of Baldwinson leaning in his ex’s bedroom window.

“He leaned in the window and when I showed him my phone and that I had called the police he left.

“I was nervous, anxious and scared. For someone to knock on the window and lean in is quite scary.”

Further abusive phone calls were played in which Baldwinson asked: “Are you f***ing him?” He also complained: “You’re hurting me. Can you see how much you’re hurting me?”

In another he said: “You’ve been lying to everyone. I don’t want to be worrying about you or f***ing heartbroken about you. You are taking the p***.”

“He wanted to know if I was dating other people,” Ms Baptiste told the trial. “I don’t think I did anything to deserve this behaviour.”

Self-employed coach Baldwinson, who has now moved from Ridge Way, Crystal Palace to renew a former relationship with an ex-girlfriend in Newcastle-under-Lyme insisted he never stalked or harassed Ms Baptiste.

“We had a mutual passion for fitness and I introduced her to the gyms and the community,” he told the court. “She made demands and wanted quite a lot of self-improvement for me.

“She made targets for me to stay with her, targets in employment and property.”

Fit: Baptiste

Baldwinson said the relationship soured when he hesitated loaning her £2,000 for a personal trainer course.

“She said the relationship was pretty much done, but if she saw action on my part in the next six months we could be together.

“The truth had come out that she was seeing someone for a considerable time. She was keeping her options open by stringing me along.”

He denied approaching her in the gym. “I was naive emotionally and financially. I was being made a fool of because she was sleeping with a guy at the gym.”

The bodybuilder read out a text he received from Ms Baptiste, in which she agrees to sex in exchange for £500.

“Pay me and I will,” read the text. “You can make a video and you will keep things discreet, a special thing between us.

“I don’t want you to post anything because it will damage my career. we can be consensual in six months because I might get lonely sometimes.”

The home visit had been pre-arranged insisted Baldwinson. “I was there for my stuff and all she had to do was pass it through the window.”

Magistrate David Armitage announced: “He has admitted he did not take the break-up well and we consider the calls to be hostile in nature.”

The prosecution will apply for a restraining order when Baldwinson is sentenced on March 21 after a probation report is prepared and he was bailed on condition he does not contact Ms Baptiste or visit her home address.

Saracens Hooker Fined For Drunken Midnight Punch-Up

Drunk: Pifeleti

A drunken rugby star landed two blows to the jaw of a law graduate, who innocently bumped into him, when the “red mist came down,” a court heard yesterday.

Seventeen stone international Kapeli Pifeleti, 23, is described by his Premiership Rugby club Saracens as: “a hard-hitting hooker who never shies away from physicality.”

Pifeleti, of London Road, St. Albans, Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to assaulting Charlie Boyns, 26, causing him actual bodily harm at Cafe Sol, Clapham High Street, on December 2, last year.

At Croydon Magistrates’ Court the USA international was fined £500 and ordered to pay the victim £600 compensation, plus £85 court costs and a £200 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Andreas Malekos told the court it was around midnight in the busy restaurant bar when Mr Boyns, a former grammar school First XV rugby player himself who still participates, came into contact with him.

“There was a dispute when the defendant bumped into him, which started a verbal exchange and this defendant asked: ‘What are you doing?’

“He was then hit twice in the face by this defendant and felt immediate pain and swelling.

“At one point he puts the victim into a headlock and the entire incident last around ten seconds.

“The defendant admitted the offence at the scene and said he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

“The victim received a cut to his lip and swelling.”

Mr Boyns said in his victim impact statement: “This was my first night out with two new housemates. The guy was huge and hit me for no reason.

In Court: Pifeleti

“I was in the process of receiving two months of physiotherapy and this makes things so much worse.”

The court heard Pifeleti received a police caution for an offence of affray in Hertfordshire in 2021.

Pifeleti’s lawyer Mark Haslam told the court: “The defendant accepts he is at fault and took matters to a higher level and accepts that he was drunk when he struck the blows in a period of ten seconds.

“This cannot be said to be a prolonged and sustained attack. It is two blows, two strikes at the bottom end of the sentencing scale.

“He has personally written a letter of apology to the victim and his employers are aware.

“His behaviour that night was unacceptable and self-intoxication is not an excuse. The defendant accepts all of that and apologises profusely.

“He made full and frank admissions at the scene and has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

“There is effectively a double punishment here because this is not the end of the matter as far as his employers are concerned. They will monitor his performance as part of the penalty.

“The red mist had come down and he was flailing around in a drunken state.”

Both the Chairman of Saracens, Neil Golding and the club’s General Manager, Philip Morrow were in court supporting the player, who will remain a member of their team.

Mr Golding wrote a letter to the court, explaining Pifeleti came to the UK from Tonga on a rugby scholarship at £40,000-a year Haileybury School, aged fifteen years-old, and signed with Saracens, aged eighteen.

“He is in the First Team and is a model professional, who trains hard and is a genuinely nice man and it is inconceivable this incident would have occurred if he had not been drinking,” wrote the Chairman.

“Drinking is no excuse for his behaviour,” added Mr Golding of the £1,000 per week star. 

“He assists with our club’s charitable foundation every Monday evening for children with autism and there are sports and dancing activities.

“The club are very dissatisfied with his behaviour and he has been given a formal warning and knows that further similar conduct and behaviour will jeopardise his entire rugby career.”

The club have imposed their own community service penalty on Pifeleti, who must now devote two hours every Monday evening to the foundation for the remainder of the season.

Magistrate Steven Van Gelder announced: “There are consequences here and the club are going to impose on their player penalties in excess of what we impose.

“You pleaded guilty on the first occasion and made admissions in your police interview,” the magistrate told the grey-suited Pifeleti.

“There are aggravating factors here. You were intoxicated, highly intoxicated and you started this and it must have been a very distressing incident for everybody in that busy night time bar. 

“We know you have written a letter of apology to the person you attacked that night and have been doing well in the community.

“We know you are supported by your rugby club and you have been given a formal warning as to your further behaviour.

“You will almost certainly be in serious trouble with your rugby career if there is another serious incident.”

'What A Liberty': St. Pancras Passenger Molested By Mystery Male

Police are hunting this suspected groper, believed to have molested another male in the middle of busy St. Pancras station.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released the image and are requesting members of the public to assist in identifying the man.

On December 9, last year the victim was walking past Holland and Barret in the station at approximately 8.30pm.

An unknown male reached out and sexually assaulted him.

He then left the area and made his way towards the Thameslink ticket barriers.

The man in the image is wearing a distinctive 'Statue of Liberty' puffa jacket and Christmas-themed jumper.

Anyone who knows him is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016, or by calling 0800 40 50 40. 

In both cases quote reference number 611 of 09/12/22.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Teenage Girl 'Upskirted' On Metropolitan Line

Police are hunting a tube train passenger, suspected of using his mobile phone to film up a teenage girl's skirt.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released these images of their main suspect and are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying him.

On October 22, last year at around 10.25pm, a group of teenagers were travelling on a Metropolitan line train when a man began to move closer to stand next to them.

As the group got off the train at Wembley Park station, the man squatted down and held his phone underneath the skirt of one of the girls.

He then walked to another carriage and left the train at Watford.

Officers believe the man in the CCTV images may have information, which could help their investigation.

If you recognise him, or have any information, please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 749 of 22/10/22.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Hung Jury In: "Can I Have A Go?" Rape Trial

A homeless passer-by, accused of raping an A-Level art student after asking: “Can I have a go,” may face a re-trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict.

Rough sleeper Wesley Roden, 33, was on the run from police when he stumbled upon the drunken 18 year-old being raped by a mystery male in Victoria Embankment Gardens, Charing Cross, the trial heard.

Roden, of Museum Street, Warrington, who Southwark Crown Court was told has twenty previous criminal convictions, including assault; theft; harassment; criminal damage and threatening behaviour, pleaded not guilty to raping the young woman on August 16, 2019.

The eleven remaining members of the jury confirmed not even a majority verdict of ten of them was a prospect and Recorder Tom Forster KC announced: “I don’t have any option but to discharge the jury in this case.

“You have all done your best and you should be proud of yourselves,” he told them. “Thank-you for your time, energy and concentration.”

The Crown Prosecution Service asked for a week to make a decision on any re-trial after consulting with the complainant and the case will return on February 22.

The young woman and two female friends drank vodka, beer and cider as they travelled from the outskirts of north London to West End superclub Heaven, where one of the other girls was refused admittance, due to intoxication.

Later police tests also reveal the complainant had consumed cannabis, cocaine and ketamine and she confirmed to police she was “ten out of ten” drunk.

She split with her friends when they tried to sober up in McDonald’s and was caught on CCTV walking from Heaven to the small closed park around 2.40am with a mystery male, still being hunted by police.

The student gave a video-recorded statement to police after she and a good Samaritan waved down officers, which was played to the jury.

“The snapshot I have in my head is lying on the grass in a park with a man over me and feeling pain around the hips,” the teenager explained, confirming she had little memory of how she got there.

“I remember lying on the grass and my underwear and tights were around my ankles and my legs were pushed up.

“The first man, I don’t remember his face. I could feel him having sex with me and a pain in my hips.

“It felt surreal and I was ten out of ten for drunk.

“I remember his body moving over me and sexual moaning and him holding me down on my arm and I have a bruise where he held me.

“My knees were up to my chest and I was just wanting for it to be over and was blacking in and out, distracting myself.

“Another man came over with a beard  and said: ‘Can I have a go?’ and the first man says: ‘That’s a bit weird,’ and then said: ‘Once I leave you can do what you want with her.’

“The second man looked at me and saw I wouldn’t do anything or stop it.

“He was over me and then he was gone. I woke up on the grass and realised everything that had happened.

“I was on the grass and clicking in my head all the snapshots leading up and then ran to the gate and was banging on the gate and I told a man I needed help and to call the police.

“I don’t remember how I got to the park, I did not know where I was or where my friends were and I was scared and confused.”

Roden does not deny having unprotected sex with the young woman - confirmed via DNA - and immediately gave his version of events when police found him sleeping nearby the next day.

“He did not look well put together, his clothes were scruffy,” the complainant told the police.

“When he said: ‘Can I have a go?’ I was thinking: ’No, no, no,’ but I don’t know if I said it. I felt like I was paralysed.”

Prosecutor Ben Temple told the jury Roden was questioned by police. “He suggested in interview the complainant was an enthusiastic partner who instigated sexual activity and said: ‘She had the time of her life.’

“He said she was a slut and that she told him she had sex with strangers every weekend  and was a: ’Twisted little slag.’

“He can dish it out in interview, but is not prepared to put his money where his mouth is,” added the prosecutor, referring to Roden’s decision not to give evidence to the jury.

He also told police: “She is trying to stitch me up,” insisting she physically pulled him  towards her by his crotch, gave him oral sex and demanded: “Come and f*** me.”

He was arrested the next day by PC Ryan McKinley, who told the jury: “He was a little bit too jovial about it. Like it was banter.

“He was not well kept. He had clearly been living out for some considerable time. He fist pumps the other male and says ‘get me involved’ while that male is raping the girl. There’s clearly no consent there.”

Bond Street Underground Station Gang Violently Attack Pair

Two tube train passengers were targeted by wannabe muggers, who pushed one down steps and inflicted a kick to the back and punch to the face.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released these CCTV images of the suspects they would like to speak to.

They are treating the incident as an attempted robbery.

At Bond Street Underground Station at approximately 6.25pm on October 9, last year the two victims were ascending steps at the busy station when one of them was pushed in the back, causing them to stumble down the stairs.

The wanted group then split the victims up and circled them, demanding their phones and belongings.

The victims refused and one was kicked to the back and punched in the face.

Members of the public intervened and the group left before they could take any of their possessions.

If you recognise the people in the images please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40. 

Alternatively you can Call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

"She Had The Time Of Her Life": Rape Suspect Told Police

A passer-by, accused of joining in the early hours rape of a drunken teenage A-Level student in London’s West End, joked about the incident as if it was “banter,” a court heard.

Rough sleeper Wesley Roden, 33, was on the run from police when he stumbled upon the 18 year-old being raped by a mystery male in Victoria Embankment Gardens and asked: “Can I have a go,” the trial has been told.

He was arrested the next day by PC Ryan McKinley, who told the Southwark Crown Court jury: “He was a little bit too jovial about it. Like it was banter.

“He was not well kept. He had clearly been living out for some considerable time. He fist pumps the other male and says ‘get me involved’ while that male is raping the girl. There’s clearly no consent there.”

Roden, of Museum Street, Warrington, who the trial heard has twenty previous criminal convictions, including assault; theft; harassment; criminal damage and threatening behaviour, has pleaded not guilty to raping the young woman on August 16, 2019.

The complainant and two female friends drank vodka, beer and cider as they travelled from the outskirts of north London to Charing Cross superclub Heaven, where one of the other girls is refused admittance, due to intoxication.

Later police tests also reveal the complainant had consumed cannabis, cocaine and ketamine and her blood alcohol level would result in a “significant degree of intoxication.”

She split with her friends when they tried to sober up in McDonald’s and was caught on CCTV walking from Heaven to the small closed park around 2.40am with a mystery male, still being hunted by police.

The art student gave a video-recorded statement to police after she and a good Samaritan waved down officers, which was played to the jury.

“The snapshot I have in my head is lying on the grass in a park with a man over me and feeling pain around the hips,” the teenager explained, confirming she had little memory of how she got there.

“I remember lying on the grass and my underwear and tights were around my ankles and my legs were pushed up.

“The first man, I don’t remember his face. I could feel him having sex with me and a pain in my hips.

“It felt surreal and I want ten out of ten for drunk.

“I remember his body moving over me and sexual moaning and him holding me down on my arm and I have a bruise where he held me.

“My knees were up to my chest and I was just wanting for it to be over and was blacking in and out, distracting myself.

“Another man came over with a beard  and said: ‘Can I have a go?’ and the first man says: ‘That’s a bit weird,’ and then said: ‘Once I leave you can do what you want with her.’

“The second man looked at me and saw I wouldn’t do anything or stop it.

“He was over me and then he was gone. I woke up on the grass and realised everything that had happened.

“I was on the grass and clicking in my head all the snapshots leading up and then ran to the gate and was banging on the gate and I told a man I needed help and to call the police.

“I don’t remember how I got to the park, I did not know where I was or where my friends were and I was scared and confused.”

Roden does not deny having unprotected sex with the young woman - confirmed via DNA - and immediately gave his version of events when police found him sleeping nearby the next day.

“He did not look well put together, his clothes were scruffy,” the complainant told the police.

“When he said: ‘Can I have a go?’ I was thinking: ’No, no, no,’ but I don’t know if I said it. I felt like I was paralysed.”

Prosecutor Ben Temple told the jury Roden was questioned by police. “He suggested in interview the complainant was an enthusiastic partner who instigated sexual activity and said: ‘She had the time of her life.’

“He said she was a slut and that she told him she had sex with strangers every weekend  and was a: ’Twisted little slag.’

“He can dish it out in interview, but is not prepared to put his money where his mouth is,” added the prosecutor, referring to Roden’s decision not to give evidence to the jury.

He also told police: “She is trying to stitch me up,” insisting she physically pulled him  towards her by his crotch, gave him oral sex and demanded: “Come and f*** me.”

Trial continues………….. 

Tulse Hill Station GBH Charge Dropped Against Knifeman Nicked Months Later

GBH Appeal Led To Murray's Arrest

A suspect cleared of pushing a Tulse Hill station railway worker down a flight of stairs has been cleared, but was still locked-up for carrying a knife in the same location.

These images were released by British Transport Police (BTP) after the victim was hospitalised with a cut to the back of his head, resulting in the arrest of local man Malaki Murray, 22.

However, at Inner London Crown Court this week the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence against him on a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm, with intent, on Surge Mabam on June 23, 2021.

Murray, of Peabody Hill, Dulwich, which is 200 metres from the station, was on bail awaiting trial when he was arrested outside on June 13, last year for having a kitchen knife.

He was immediately remanded in custody and has been locked-up for the last eight months. 

Murray pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article outside Tulse Hill station and was sentenced to six months imprisonment - resulting in his immediate release.

He was also in breach of two suspended sentences, but only sentenced to one day’s imprisonment on each, ruling out any more time in custody.

BTP launched a public appeal to track down the GBH suspect accused of injuring the railway worker at 9.30am and then fleeing the station.

Murray was charged, but the CPS decided their identification evidence was insufficient to convict him. 

While on bail police officers observed Murray near the station last summer and were suspicious because his face was covered and he was holding a bag.

He showed the officers he had a receipt for the items in the bag, but was caught with a knife in his jogging bottoms and was arrested after he tried to run away and was involved in a physical struggle with the police.

One officer suffered a dislocated finger during the arrest.

Tulse Hill Station GBH Suspect

When questioned Murray said “no comment” apart from saying he had been previously stabbed.

The court heard it is suspected he has ADHD and autism.

Judge Silas Reid said: “He has been habitually carrying a knife since the age of sixteen. That is what he told the psychiatrist.

“He accepts he has been carrying a knife around for the last five years.” added the judge, who heard Murray was once the victim of a violent stabbing and carries a knife for self-defence.

Judge Reid told Murray: “You were on bail for a very serious offence and in your waistband you had a kitchen-type knife.

“The reason you carry that knife was because you were the victim of a stabbing at the age of seventeen years-old and had a fixated view of needing to carry a knife to defend yourself.”

Murray has made disturbing comments to professionals, such as: “I like to come out on top,” and: “People who are attacked are defenceless.”

Judge Reid told him: “That’s why courts take the carrying of knives seriously. People get stabbed and you have been a victim of that.

“Anyone who carries a knife can expect to go to prison. You have a relatively bad record for a young man and are in breach of two suspended sentences.

“Please listen to me carefully. Going forward you must stop carrying knives to reduce the risk of you ending up in prison for a long time.

“The minimum sentence you will receive for carrying a knife will be six months imprisonment, although you will probably get more.”

"Can I Have A Go Next?": Passer-By Denies Raping Student

A drunken teenage student enjoying a night out in the West End was raped twice in a small park - the second time by a passer-by who asked: “Can I have a go next?” a court heard today.

The 18 year-old somehow became separated from her two friends when the group were refused entry to Charing Cross superclub Heaven and she ended up in Victoria Embankment Gardens with a mystery male.

That man is still wanted by police, but Wesley Roden, 33, of Museum Street, Warrington was arrested the next day and has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the young woman in the early hours of August 16, 2019.

Southwark Crown Court heard a ‘good Samaritan’ assisted the student when she clambered back over the gates to the small park.

“We were flagged down by a male and female, who was crying and incredibly distressed and said she had been raped,” Police Inspector Tariq McKinsey told the jury.

“She stated she did not remember much, but was in a park and forced to have sex against her will and while being raped another male, with a beard approached, and said: ‘Can I have a go next?’

“She said she repeatedly said no to both males and the second male forced himself on the female.”

One of the young woman’s friend’s told the court the trio had “pre drinks” of vodka, cider and beer as they travelled to the West End from the outskirts of north London.

“We drink as much as we can so we do not have to spend money,” she explained, but the third member of the group of friends was so drunk Heaven security staff refused entry.

They went to a local McDonald’s in an attempt to sober up, where they lost touch with the complainant and spent two anxious hours trying to find her.

However, she had gained entry to Heaven alone and was caught on CCTV leaving the club at 2.40am with the unknown male suspect, who was wearing a light-coloured top and who has been the subject of a police appeal.

The jury viewed CCTV of the male assisting the student climb over the locked park gates before he is recorded leaving alone, followed by the woman eight minutes later.

Her friend told the court the complainant arrived home the next afternoon with her mother. 

“She said all she could remember was walking down a dark road by Heaven towards the park. She said: ‘I didn’t see the man’s face. There was a bright light shining in my face.’

“She said a homeless guy said: ‘Can I have a go next?’ and the other man replied: ‘Yeah, you can do what you like when I’m done.’

“She is such a sensible person. She had never gone missing before,” sobbed her friend.

The jury were played police bodycam footage of the then, bearded Roden’s arrest in the Charing Cross subway, where he was sleeping rough.

Lying low in London because he was wanted on recall to prison he gave the name ‘Mark Moriarty’ as officers said they were investigating an “incident”.

“I’ve not been involved in any incident. I’m f***ing confused,” he argued. “I’m not involved in anything. If my mum got a phone call would she be gutted?”

Moments later he said: “I’m walking off the park and there’s a guy and girl on the floor having sex, totally naked and they just carried on shagging.

“The man said: ‘Get yourself involved, get your pants down,’ and the girl said: ‘Get yourself involved,’ and is pulling at my pants.

“It’s the maddest situation ever and we both had sex with this girl and he was someone I did not even know. Is this something to do with that?”

When arrested Roden replied: “I’m not a rapist.”

Trial continues…………..