Ellesmere Port man accused of raping woman he met on dating site gives evidence

Hamza Cekic, 33, of Whitby Road, stands accused of the rape and attempted rape of a woman, with both offences alleged to have happened on the night of January 8, 2019.

Cekic denies the charges.

Giving evidence in English, with occasional assistance from an interpreter, Cekic told the court on Tuesday afternoon he had been living in England the past eight years, seven of them in Ellesmere Port, having grown up in Turkey.

He had previously met people on the dating site he used before exchanging messages with a woman in December 2018, using the nickname 'Diego'.

The prosecution say this was the woman who was raped.

Cekic said he had been invited to her house on the night of January 8, 2019, and told the court he could not stay there very long as he was at work at a takeaway outlet that night.

He denied he had gone there with the intention of having sex.

He said when he met the woman at her house, they sat on the sofa and talked about Turkey and tattoos, "she was very relaxed", and they then looked face-to-face and started kissing.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Owen Edwards said it was the case the woman had told Cekic several times "no" to sex, but he had replied "Come on, that is why I have come here."

Cekic denied that, adding: "I am not English, I am Turkish, I would never say 'come on', and we were kissing already."

Cekic told the court that during the time he was there, the woman said "no" just once, in response to Cekic's request for a sex act, which Cekic said: "I did not push her", and said she then accepted Cekic's request for a different sex act.

He added the two were "laughing" after sex, before Cekic left to go to work.

Previously, the court heard the woman give evidence saying she had said "no" to sex at least 20 times.

Appearing via videolink on Tuesday, the woman told the court she "froze" when Cekic had sex with her.

After Cekic left, the woman immediately got in contact with a lifelong female friend.

The friend's evidence was read out in court as a statement, where she said the woman sounded upset, like she had been crying.

She asked: "What's wrong?"

The woman replied: "My date has gone wrong – badly."

The friend said she had a 'sinking feeling', and asked: "What do you mean badly wrong, as in raped?"

The friend said there was no answer but the woman started crying. The friend said she would be there immediately.

When the friend arrived at the house, the woman started sobbing and said: "This is because I invited him to my house".

The friend replied: "This is not your fault, you said 'no' didn't you?"

The woman said: "Yes," and the friend replied: "That it means it isn't your fault."

The friend's statement concluded by saying she called the police and explained to the woman the importance of telling police all she could.

Previously, Mr Edwards told the court Cekic had, on the night, moved in to kiss the woman, with her pulling away.

Cekic allegedly put his arm around the woman, with the woman telling him "no", and Cekic kissed her on the neck.

Cekic also allegedly took the woman's hand and tried to place it towards his groin area, with the woman pulling her hand away.

It was then, the prosecution alleged, Cekic pulled the woman's leggings down and pulled his trousers down, and proceeded to rape her.

He stopped, the court heard, then attempted to rape her, before finishing sex.

Cekic was arrested in March 2019, to which he replied: "I have not done these things."

After advice from his solicitor, Cekic gave no comment in the first hour and 20 minutes of his police interview, until police provided forensic evidence showing Cekic's DNA was present on the woman.

The solicitor asked for the interview to be paused, and upon further talks between the solicitor and Cekic, the interview continued with Cekic providing his full account of events.

The investigating officer was asked in court by defence barrister Myles Wilson why that forensic evidence had not been supplied to Cekic and the solicitor in the first instance.

The officer replied she wanted to have a full, "truthful and untainted" account of events from Cekic, and supplying that forensic evidence earlier could have given the defendant "a steer".

Mr Wilson said: "You are playing games, officer," to which the officer replied: "Not games; I wanted the truth."

Cekic's interview said the sex with the woman was a "spur of the moment – we kissed and it just went off," adding if the woman was to say 'stop' at any point, he would not have had sex, and "promised he had done nothing wrong".

The trial, with Judge Garrett Byrne presiding, is expected to have its summing up on Wednesday, with the jury of five men and seven women due to retire to consider its verdict.