The Bristol Post
A NIGHTCLUB doorman charged with rape who failed to turn up for his trial has been found not guilty.
Rafik Bounouara, 38, of Church Road, Redfield, was alleged to have raped a 21-year old woman in June last year.
He did not attend the Bristol Crown Court hearing, which proceeded in his absence after reports that he may have left the UK for Morocco.
But following a hearing lasting one and a half days the jury was invited to return a not guilty verdict by Judge Julian Lambert yesterday.
The court heard the complainant told police she went to the Elbow Rooms bar in Park Street.
In interview she said she talked to Bounouara and went back to his home. She said her next memory was the doorman having sex with her, without her consent.
The court was told there was evidence the complainant was drunk and had drugs in her system at the time of the alleged rape.
David Maunder, defending, cross-examined the complainant, asking her a series of questions to which she replied: “I don’t know.”
She asked for a break and said she was in pain.
James Ward, prosecuting, then offered no further evidence and the judge allowed him to explain the position to members of the jury.
He told them: “The Director of Public Prosecutions has said that women or men who report rape should be taken seriously and the police should investigate properly. As a result rape prosecutions have arisen.
“It is not for the Crown Prosecution Service or the police to say ‘we don’t believe you’. It is a matter for the jury.
“She gave an interview, she was cross-examined and repeatedly said ‘I don’t know’.
“How can we prove she didn’t consent to sex?
“The answer is, we can’t.”
Mr Ward told the jury that earlier this month he had advised that the case should stop. But he said the police appealed after not agreeing with that decision, and he opened the case at trial, reflecting the woman’s account in her interview.
