A WOMAN may have been knocked unconscious before being raped and then left naked in the street outside an Ipswich town centre wine bar, it has been alleged.

Jane Hunt

A WOMAN may have been knocked unconscious before being raped and then left naked in the street outside an Ipswich town centre wine bar, it has been alleged.

The 22-year-old had gone to Keo's bar in St Nicholas Street after closing time with Jamie Scoulding who worked there, to pick up a bag she had left at the premises, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The couple were captured on CCTV walking towards Keo's after shortly after midnight and then at 1.50am the cameras showed items of the woman's clothing being thrown into the street from the wine bar, said Steven Dyble, prosecuting.

Shortly afterwards Scoulding was seen dragging the woman, who was naked apart from her socks, into the street and dropping her on the pavement.

Fifteen minutes later Scoulding had come out of the bar again and had called for an ambulance on his mobile phone after the woman was spotted by a passer-by.

A stretcher had to be used to get the woman, who appeared to be drunk, into the ambulance and en route to hospital paramedics noticed that she had a black eye and that the left side of her face was swollen.

Mr Dyble alleged that Scoulding had either taken advantage of the woman and raped her after “beating her senseless” or had taken advantage of her inebriated state and had raped her.

Scoulding, 22, of Hyperion Court, Ipswich has denied raping the woman on June 24 this year. The jury has been told that he has admitted assaulting the woman causing her actual bodily harm on the night in question.

Mr Dyble told the court that earlier in the evening the alleged victim, who is a lesbian, had been at the Milestone pub in Ipswich.

The landlady had noticed that the woman had been “minesweeping”, which meant she had been going round picking up other people's drinks, and at one stage she had lifted up her top and “flashed” her breasts.

After finishing work at Keo's, Scoulding had gone to the Milestone and the landlady had become concerned after noticing that he had “latched on” to the woman. She had become even more concerned when Scoulding insisted that the woman returned to Keo's that night to pick up a bag she had left there, said Mr Dyble.

He said that later in the evening after calling for an ambulance for the woman Scoulding had “embarked upon a web of lies and deceit” which included giving police a false name and telephone number.

He had initially claimed that he had found the naked woman in the doorway of Keo's as he left work and said he didn't know how long she had been there.

After his arrest Scoulding claimed he had seen the woman in the street with blood on her face and had taken her to Keo's.

He claimed they had a drink and had been getting on well and ended up having consensual sex. He said the woman had then passed out and when he couldn't rouse her he had panicked and dragged her out into the street.

He had then claimed that the woman had become angry with him after they had sex and he had punched her in the face.

Giving evidence from behind a screen the alleged victim claimed that after going to Keo's with Scoulding he had suddenly pushed her in the chest and punched her in the face.

She said that after Scoulding hit her she had “come to” with him on top of her raping her. She denied having consensual sex with Scoulding and then losing her temper with him and throwing a glass at him which resulted in him punching her.

The trial continues today.