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Woman tells trial Banff man held her throat and raped her after night out

High Court in Aberdeen
High Court in Aberdeen

A woman has told a court she was left terrified and “numb” after she was raped by a Banff man.

The 21-year-old was giving evidence at the High Court in Aberdeen yesterday, accusing Taylor Smith of having sex with her against her will.

She told the court he attacked her at an after-party following a night of clubbing.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Smith tried to get her to sit on his lap and then later lifted up her skirt.

“He was pulling me towards him and I pushed his hand away,” she said.

The woman said that, later that evening, Smith grabbed her arm and forced her into a bedroom.

He then allegedly pushed her onto a bed, tore her underwear and had sex with her, while she pleaded with him to let her go.

The court was shown screenshots of a messaging app where the woman asked a friend for help while this was happening.

Advocate depute James Keegan asked why she did not shout to anyone, but the woman explained that Smith had placed his hand around her throat and that she was “frozen” by the situation.


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Photographs showing bruising caused by the alleged incident, and Mr Keegan also told the court that Smith had previously text the woman asking to meet, adding he was in “rage sex mode”.

But defence counsel Edith Forrest suggested during cross-examination that all of the activity between the pair had been consensual and that several people had seen them kissing before the alleged rape.

Ms Forrest also alleged that the woman had met up again with Smith the following day, when she gave him a lift and he handed her £5 for petrol money.

The woman said she could not remember if that had happened.

Smith is also also accused of raping another woman and attempting to rape a third, all on separate occasions in the Banff and Buchan area between October 2017 and July 2018.

Smith denies the charges.

The trial, before Judge Buchanan, continues.