Thatcham man Stephen Rye denies raping woman in Newbury

A WOMAN who was allegedly raped by a man she trusted reportedly asked afterwards: “Do you realise what you have just done?”

Opening the case for the prosecution at Reading Crown Court on Monday, September 9, Edward Lucas said: “That woman was entitled to be offered respect and, quite simply, he didn’t show it to her.”

In the dock was Stephen Rye of Rudland Close, Thatcham, who denies one count of rape.

Mr Lucas said Mr Rye, who is married but separated, had known the complainant and enjoyed normal, consensual sex with her on the night in question.

But he then committed a penetrative sex act to which she objected, the court heard.

Mr Lucas added: “She told him three times: ‘Don’t do it’ and put her hand out to stop him.

“But it didn’t stop him... he just carried on doing it anyway.

“She had made it quite clear she didn’t consent to what he was doing – she was in shock and simply froze; she felt she had no control.”

Later on, the jury heard, “she was very upset and asked him if he realised what he had just done”.

But 56-year-old Mr Rye merely stormed off, the court was told.

Mr Lucas went on: “She struggled with it and at first kept it to herself.

“Eventually she started to open up [to her family] about what had occurred.”

The woman finally went to police and made a formal complaint of rape.

Mr Rye was arrested and when he was interviewed, said Mr Lucas, “he appeared to concede he had gone too far, saying: ‘I went too far, like – I done what I done.’

“He accepted that moving her hand away could have indicated a lack of consent on her part.”

Mr Lucas told the jury: “You may think that what she told [family members] is entirely consistent with her account.

“You have to decide whether consent was given.

“This case is about respect – and the lack of it.”

The court has heard that, on the night in question, Mr Rye had been drinking with friends in a pub in Thatcham.

Mr Lucas told jurors: “He was merry; it’s a matter for you whether you consider drink was involved.”

He told the court that, after the alleged rape, the pair went on to have consensual sex.

But the woman told Mr Rye later in a text message: “Don’t you think I was scared to say ‘no’ again?

“Because you wouldn’t have listened.”

The trial was halted on Tuesday, September 10, because one member of legal counsel was taken ill.

Meanwhile the trial, expected to last several days, was expected to resume.