An Airbnb guest has been convicted of raping a first-time host, who ended up barricading herself in her bedroom and hiding her kitchen knives.
Well-travelled graphic designer Diego Dellarovere, 43, who describes himself as a ‘Citizen of the World’ promised her the next morning: “I’ll leave a good review.”
A Croydon Crown Court jury took approximately three hours to unanimously find him guilty of rape; sexual assault and assault by penetration.
Dellarovere, of Holland Road, West Kensington, who describes himself as a ‘Free Spirit’, spent the weekend in a prison cell after Recorder William Featherby KC remanded him in custody until his sentencing on January 31.
He will also have to sign the sex offenders register.
His exotic travels are chronicled online, where he tells his instagram fans: “Follow Me. I will take you around the world.”
The woman told the trial she became a host to make the most of the spare room in her Wandle Park, Croydon flat, advertising on the Airbnb website.
Her first-ever guest was Dellarovere, who booked for one night on May 7, 2021, despite having a London address.
He told the jury: “I like to explore new places and in that period it was a covid period and I couldn’t travel or visit other places and the idea to go on a night out, it was close to my lifestyle.
“It was cheap and because there was a park close by and I like nature.”
She accepted the booking, despite believing it was a little strange west London-based Dellarovere wanted to spend the night in her quiet corner of Croydon.
During the evening she poured them both a glass of wine and Dellarovere told her about his passion for Reiki therapy, which utilises the body’s natural energy.
In her police video-recorded interview she explained: “He mentioned massage at that point and was following me very close and came behind me and started rubbing my shoulders and I said: ’No thanks.’
“Then when I was sitting on the couch he was touching my legs and said: ‘Put on spa music and I can give you a massage.’
“He was saying: ‘I have oil. I will give you a massage.’
“I felt like he was just looking at me and not wanting just small talk and that’s when things turned,” she told the investigating officers.
“He came forward and pulled me in and started licking and kissing my neck. I pulled back and he was quite strongly pulling me in and I had to forcefully push him away.
“I felt a little bit frozen and he went in again, using a lot more strength and force.
“I was saying ‘no’ quite a lot and pushing and he stuck his tongue in my mouth and moved from there to my breast and his hand went down inside my leggings.
“I said: ‘I don’t want this,’ and he said: ‘Come on,’ and started talking about that energy stuff we had discussed earlier.
“He put his hand into my trousers and into me and was quite roughly moving his fingers. It was not comfortable.
“He pulled down down his trousers and underwear and sat down,” continued the woman, adding Dellarovere forced her hand between his legs.
“He grabbed my head again, my hair and just pushed forward.”
She said she was raped by force and without consent and afterwards Dellarovere followed her around the kitchen, trying to grab her.
“He started grabbing me again and I said: “You’re really p***ing me off now,” and he walked away, tidied himself up and went into the spare bedroom.”
However, Dellarovere insisted the sexual activity was consensual and occurred after he gave her a relaxing massage.
The father-of-one told the jury during the four-day trial: “There was a sort of chemistry. We were laughing and joking, everything was very natural.
“At that point when there was a kiss she came closer and we became more intimate, we started to hug and touch each other. We kissed and hugged.”
Dellarovere said the “ten to twenty seconds” sex act occurred during a “moment of passion,” the complainant seemed to immediately regret.
“I was going to move and then it was just like she had woken up and she stood up and went back and she said: ’No, no, it’s too soon. I made a mistake.’
“At the point she stood up I still had my trousers down and I stood up and I said: ‘Everything is okay, there’s nothing wrong,’ and I tried to hug her.
“At this point she said: ’No, no,’ and when I heard her I was embarrassed, pulled up my trousers and went in my room.”
The woman told the trial she also retreated to her bedroom. “I went to my bedroom and he was texting me, asking: ‘Are you sure?’ and then texted me that he was sorry and asked if I was angry.
“I was scared because he did not get what he wanted and would go out and bring someone back.”
After getting her pet dog into her bedroom she struggled to convince her reluctant pet cat to follow. “Once they were in I pulled a unit across the door.”
She also hid her knife block, remarking: “I did not know what he was capable of doing.”
Dellarovere had her door keys and returned to the flat at 2.00am after “going for a walk” and spent the night in the spare room.
She left a neutral Airbnb about Dellarovere, which seemed to annoy him, the court heard.
“He responded with an angry face emoji and there was some back and forth messaging in which he said it was consensual and using block capitals, said I LIKED it.”
Dellarovere sent further WhatsApp messages to the woman, including: “You are repressed,” “You’re not a good person,” “You need to be more in your soul not your mind,” “Be an adult, not a baby,” and “I didn’t see any objections from you.”
Dellarovere then blocked the woman, but contacted her again when she reported to Airbnb her concerns about his stay, resulting in her ultimately blocking him.
She told the police: “I was just going to report this to Airbnb and leave it at that. My initial thoughts were it was pointless because it was not going to go anywhere.
“Then my thought was that he is likely going to do that to someone again so I want his name to be flagged.”
