A WOMAN was dragged onto a river bank before being punched and raped by a man who hours earlier had been watching porn videos featuring ‘outdoor sex’, a jury was told.

Abdel-Aziz Al-Shamary is alleged to have attacked the woman in Darlington town centre as she walked home from the pub, having himself drunk two big bottles of bourbon.

Some of the woman’s DNA was found inside the defendant’s underwear, prosecutor Paul Abrahams told Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

The 21-year-old, of Pensbury Street, Darlington, denies rape and an alternative count of attempted rape sometime around midnight on May 16/17 this year.

He has admitted assaulting the complainant, causing actual bodily harm.

Mr Abrahams said the woman told police she was grabbed and pushed to the ground. She said Mr Al-Shamary threatened her, got on top of her and twice punched her in the face.

The prosecutor said a passing motorist and her passenger in the area around St Cuthbert’s Way saw a woman being dragged down the river bank leading to the River Skerne.

They stopped and saw a man leaving and a woman who was distressed and injured, who said she had been raped.

Another witness, a taxi driver, reported seeing a couple arguing at the time.

Mr Abrahams described how the movement of both defendant and complainant were tracked by CCTV.

The woman had left the The Greyhound pub in Parkgate, at about 11.25pm, having drunk two or three pints and a cocktail, and walked onto St Cuthbert’s Way towards Brunswick Street.

Meanwhile, Mr Al-Shamary, who had the use of an interpreter in court, was also captured on Parkgate, walking parallel along Borough Road with a friend, Jabar Abdel Alwan, before reaching and crossing St Cuthbert’s Way.

The jury heard the two men were going to a pizza takeaway to get a lift, but the second man left Mr Al-Shamary when he began talking to the complainant.

Both parties were seen on CCTV near the River Skerne, where it overlooks a retail outlet car park, and appeared to go their separate ways.

But Mr Abrahams said Mr Al-Shamary then doubled back and assaulted and raped the woman.

He said the defendant then walked back across St Cuthbert’s Way, down Brunswick Street, and “bumped into” two more witnesses, a man and his female partner.

Both described Mr Al-Shamary being aggressive, so much so the man had to step in to warn him off.

Mr Abrahams said that showed the mindset of the defendant. He also referred to sex videos Mr Al-Shamary had been watching on his mobile phone at about 7.30pm that day.

He said: “He was watching people having sex outdoors. It is relevant as when confronted with a lone female he raped her.”

  • The trial continues.