Slowthai found not guilty of rape and sexual assault
Slowthai, real name Tyron Frampton, has been found not guilty of rape and sexual assault by a jury at Oxford Crown Court.
Frampton and his friend, Alex Blake-Walker, have been on trial at Oxford Crown Court, which began on November 25th. The pair were charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, which they denied ahead of the not guilty verdict. The jury, which comprised of eight men and four women, reached the majority not guilty verdict following more than ten hours of deliberations.
On December 12th, the jury retired to consider the verdict before reaching a conclusion on December 16th that found Frampton and Blake-Walker not guilty of all charges. Upon learning the not-guilty verdict, Frampton burst into tears in the courtroom.
During the trial, Blake-Walker was accused by the prosecutor of raping the first complainant while receiving encouragement from Frampton. The rapper was also alleged to have raped the second complainant while being encouraged by Blake-Walker.
The incident allegedly occurred after Slowthai performed at The Bullingdon in Oxford on September 7th, 2021. Following the performance, Frampton met the woman and her friends at a restaurant before the show, putting them on the VIP list because they were “huge fans”. After the concert, they then went to his tour bus before a group of eight women and four men went to a flat party, the court heard, according to the Oxford Mail.
While most of those in attendance at the party stayed inside, Frampton and Blake-Walker allegedly went to the roof of the property with the two complainants. On the roof, the prosecution alleged that Blake-Walker raped the first woman while Frampton encouraged the behaviour before the musician raped the second complainant on two occasions. It was also alleged that Frampton was encouraged by Blake-Walker.
Throughout the legal proceedings, Judge Ian Pringle stated the case was a “question of consent”. Additionally, prosecutor Heather Stangoe urged those on the jury not to consider Frampton’s celebrity, stating, “This is not C.S.I, this is not an American drama—this is a case about real people and things that happened in real life.”
Summarising the allegations from the first complainant, the judge said on December 12th at court: “They invited us on the tour bus and offered to take us to their next event in Southampton. If it did happen on the bus, there would have been no way out of the situation. It would have been much worse I think. I did not give him oral sex willingly, I was forced to the ground. I remember kissing the other girl, it was not to excite the boys.”
The judge also recounted the other woman’s allegation: “He pushed us on to the floor and made me perform oral sex on him. It made me want to vomit. They said they would look after us. They were talking to each other while it was happening and fist-bumping. I shut my eyes and waited for them to be done. My friend then told them to leave. The men kept saying nothing happened. They ripped the zip on my skirt.”
Frampton told the court that following the events, he told his then-girlfriend that he had cheated on her in Oxford, which resulted in their breakup. He’s now married with a child to pop star Anne-Marie, who has appeared with him in court throughout the trial.
The musician also claimed that he didn’t give the complainant consent before she gave him oral sex, telling the court, “If anyone objected to kissing, they only had to say so. She then started to give me oral sex. There was no permission sought by her, I would not force myself on anybody. We could not believe this was happening to us at the same time.”
On December 11th, Frampton’s defence lawyer, Patrick Gibbs KC, claimed that Frampton’s music career would be ruined, even if he was acquitted by the jury, stating, “There’s all the difference in the world between being up for a good time, in a boyish and immature way, and forcing yourself upon someone against their will… Even if he is acquitted, it (the allegations) will not leave him. He’ll be cancelled for the rest of time.”
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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