BGT star Andrew Johnston is on trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court after being charged with two counts of rape and one of sexual assault – all of which he denies
Britain’s Got Talent star Andrew Johnston’s accuser has denied plotting with another alleged victim to win her case. The BGT singer, who competed on the ITV show in 2008, is currently on trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court for the charge of raping and sexually assaulting one woman and the rape of another woman.
The prosecution has said that the alleged offences happened a number of years after he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent. Johnston, 30, denies all charges. Today, one of the women told the court: “I can tell you that at no point was there a feeling that ‘we have got him’. It was not a victory. This does not feel like a victory.
“I do not believe any point in this process is there something that has looked like a celebration. It is not joyful. There has been no assurance of any outcome at any point. It has been something that has been done purely because I feel it is the right thing.”
When asked by defence counsel Rupert Kent whether she was trying to hide collusion between herself and the other woman, she said: “I am not.” The court heard that the woman received a selfie from the first alleged victim, who was winking in the sent image.
She said in court: “My interpretation of events developed when I found that things in my life like intimate relations with my boyfriend were affected.”
The woman said that she was engaging in consensual sex with Johnston and asked him to use a condom. She said in her police interview that she moved his hands away because he was “actively grabbing” towards her throat and she was “trying to insinuate that this is not OK”.
The court heard that at some point, Johnston stopped and removed the condom before carrying on having sex with the woman. He stayed the night of the alleged attack and they watched a TV show.
When suggested that it should have been immediately obvious that she had been raped, the woman said: “No, I think it takes time to work out.” She added: “I wanted to gloss over it. I wanted to be able to move on and not to be dealing with years of the aftermath of this.”
At some point after the incident, the woman invited Johnston for a meal and a coffee. She told the jury that she did this to find something “more gentle” out of the violence and “wanted to be treated as a human being”, seeing the invitation as a chance to have a conversation.
She said that she had a “wobble” when she tried to get close with a new boyfriend, not being able to wear turtlenecks and has undergone therapy to deal with other issues.
The woman’s ex-boyfriend also opened up to the court about a time when she “recoiled” and “retreated” from him when they were intimate. She said that she was “crying and very upset” before she spoke about Johnston. He told the court that the woman told him: “He (Johnston) became aggressive. She told him to stop but he did not. She tried to push him off with both hands on his chest but failed to get him off.”
“He (Johnston) kept on going on, then something happened where she was grabbed, pressure put on her neck. She lay there in bed, unsure what to do.”
The boyfriend added that he tried to be supportive as “it was clear that she was trying to deal with it” and it took her “quite a while” to calm down.
Johnson has denied accusations that he assaulted either of the women. He told detectives in his interview that he “at no time” had sex with the first woman or second woman which was not consensual. He added that she did not ask him to stop and that he did not discard the condom, nor was he rough with her.
The trial continues.
* If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
