Note: This article contains descriptions of allegations of sexual assault.
Slowthai has been found not guilty in a rape trial brought by two fans, BBC News reports. The British rapper and his boyfriend Alex Blake-Walker faced three joint charges of rape, alleged by two women who told the court the incident took place at one of their Oxford homes after a Slowthai concert in the city in 2021. Slowthai, whose legal name is Tyron Kaymone Frampton, reportedly broke down in tears during the reading of the verdict. Blake-Walker was also cleared of the three common counts of rape, as well as a fourth count of sexual assault.
Prosecutor Heather Stangoe had said in opening statements that Slowthai and Blake-Walker first met the women before a 2021 show in Oxford and gave them VIP tickets. After the concert, the women, some of their friends and a group including the two accused returned to one of the women's homes for a party. Once there, according to Stangoe, the women were “isolated from their friends” by Slowthai and Blake-Walker.
The prosecution alleged that, on a balcony-style roof of the property, the men made jokes while raping and sexually assaulting the women. (Slowthai and Blake-Walker denied the charges, saying all sexual activity was consensual.) They allegedly “high-fived, discussed 'tag teams' and considered swapping the girls,” Strangoe told the court. , according to The Guardian. The second defendant told the court that Slowthai raped her twice with Blake-Walker's encouragement. “I told him to stop,” she told police in a video interview a week after the events. “Slowthai was trying to pull my hair to keep going. They were like, “No, it's safe, we'll take care of you, it's safe with us.” They were like, 'This is so great, I can't believe this is happening,' and they were hitting each other.”
She told police that Slowthai pushed her against a wall and then onto the floor before raping her. Asked why she didn't tell him to stop, she replied: “I felt helpless, like my body wasn't mine.” When the women's friends realized what was happening, Strangoe added, they told the men to stop, so Frampton allegedly jumped off the roof and ran away.
