Two men 'raped woman while third was lookout - then exchanged fist bumps'
Two men allegedly raped a sobbing woman in an alleyway whilst a third kept lookout - then they exchanged fist bumps after their horror attack, a court was told.
The horror attack took place near the Piccadilly Gardens, in Manchester, a jury heard. The trio, Brian Jalo, 25, Juan Quinones, 24, and Justice Tandoh, 21, are accused of raping a young woman before they fist-bumped and walked away. Mr Jalo and Mr Quinones admit to having sex with the woman but claim it was consensual and all three deny rape.
Their alleged victim told a jury: "I asked them repeatedly to stop." Opening the case at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Robert Wynn-Jones told a jury the young woman had been in Manchester on a weekend shopping trip at the time, in May 2021. He said the three men “acted together to facilitate and perpetrate the offences of rape”.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Tanoh brought the woman to the two men before acting as look out whilst they attacked and raped her in the city centre. The alleged victim had taken the trip to Manchester with a friend, and had been sitting on a bench outside their hotel, the Britannia, when they were approached by Mr Jalo and Mr Quinones, the court heard, The Manchester Evening News reported.
The woman accepted a 'friend request' from Mr Jalo on Instagram so the pair were able to message each other, the jurors heard. The following day the young woman and her friend went shopping, had lunch and then went out drinking, said Mr Wynn-Jones. The woman was said to have consumed half-a-litre of vodka with 7Up.
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The pair returned to their hotel at 7pm when a receptionist noted they were "heavily intoxicated", the court was told. About 45 minutes later the woman's female friend was said to have told the receptionist that the pair had argued and that the woman had left the hotel.
The alleged victim went to Piccadilly Gardens and was said to have received a text message from Mr Jalo - the prosecution said there was an "obvious inference" that the three defendants had seen her in the Gardens. "She was intoxicated and the prosecution claim there is a clear inference that they had formed the intention to get her alone in that state and commit the acts of rape and sexual assault upon her," said Mr Wynn-Jones.
Mr Tandoh, who the court heard worked at FootAsylum, was said to have approached the young woman and she followed him and met the other two defendants. The three men were captured on CCTV mounted on the booking.com building in the alleyway, the court heard.
The jurors were told the defendants would argue that the woman was a “willing participant” in what followed in the alleyway. The three men were captured “chatting” beside the fire exit of the building while the woman was “clearly drunk” and “unsteady on her feet”, said Mr Wynn Jones.
Mr Tandoh lifted the woman's top and tried to touch her but she moved away from him and he then left the alleyway, the court was told. The CCTV captured how Mr Jalo “corners” the woman from behind and tries to put his hands down her trousers and pulls her trousers down, said Mr Wynn-Jones.
The woman recalled that Mr Jalo tried to kiss her and when she tried to back away he pushed her to her knees and carried out a sex act while Quinones carried out another sex act, the jurors were told. "She tells the police that she was crying and saying no," said the prosecutor. "The defendant Mr Tandoh can be seen on CCTV standing around the corner we say on watch by the entrance of the alley," said Mr Wynn-Jones.
The alleged attack lasted six minutes and that afterwards the Crown allege the three defendants “greet each other with fist-bumps”. Mr Jalo and Mr Quinones left the scene while Mr Tandoh remained with the woman who is visibly distressed and dishevelled and unsteady on her feet'.
The woman returned to the hotel and told her friend she had been raped, the court heard. The jurors watched CCTV of the alleged attack and they were shown separate footage which is alleged to show Mr Tandoh operating as a “look-out”.
Under cross-examination by Pat Buckley, on behalf of Mr Jalo, the woman said that earlier in the day she had messaged his client and told him she went shopping to Primark, had something eat at KFC and then went back to the hotel with her friend to drink.
The woman said she and her friend had initially agreed to met Mr Jalo and Mr Quinones but later changed their minds. She said she left the hotel “to meet the guys” on her own after an argument with her friend about clothes. She denied she had been flirting with Mr Jalo and allowed him touch her.
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When Mr Buckley suggested she had been a “willing participant”, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "I asked them repeatedly to stop." Questioned by Neil Ronan, on behalf of Mr Tandoh, the woman denied a suggestion she was not touched by his client and she told the court: "I was telling him to stop. I did not agree to Mr Tandoh touching me."
Mr Jalo, of Sugar Mill Street in Salford, Mr Quinones, of Sarsfield Close in Manchester, each deny three counts of rape while Mr Tandoh, of Davenport Street in Tameside, denies three counts of aiding and abetting rape. Mr Tandoh also denies a charge of sexual assault against the woman. Mr Quinones listened to the evidence with the help of a Spanish interpreter.
The trial continues.
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