Telford rape trial told of victim's epilepsy
A teenager who was allegedly raped by two Lithuanian men as she walked home from a nightclub in Telford struggled to fully recall what happened because she suffered from epilepsy, a court heard.
The 19-year-old victim suffered two epileptic seizures during the attack near Telford International Centre in the early hours of July 27 last year.
Andrius Grikpedis, 34, of Turreff Avenue, Donnington, and 29-year-old Tomas Paplauskas, of no fixed address, each deny two charges of rape.
They are standing trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court with the aid of interpreters.
The court had earlier heard the victim was "confused and disorientated" when she was found by a passing ambulance crew following the attack.
Professor Simon Shorvon, a leading national expert on epilepsy, was called to the witness stand to give evidence at court yesterday.
Mr Tustian Lody, prosecuting, asked him: "Would she be able to provide a clear, coherent account of what had happened from A to B? Or would her account be likely to be slightly scrambled?"
Mr Shorvon said the teenager's account up to the point of the first seizure would be completely unaffected. But he said during the seizures, likely to last for around 30 seconds, she would have suffered memory loss coupled with a period of confusion for minutes after it had finished.
He said medical records he had examined suggested the victim was suffering at least one seizure a day. She told doctors they were brought on by stress, the court heard.
"The greater the stress, the more likely a seizure is to occur," Mr Shorvon said.
Mr Lody had earlier told the jury there was DNA evidence linking the two men with the rapes and CCTV showed that they were in the area at the time.
The victim's mobile phone and two tongue bars which had been in her handbag were also found in Paplauskas' room when it was searched by police after his arrest.
She had suffered a head injury and bruising which was consistent with rape.
Mr Lody showed the jury CCTV footage and stills which showed the two defendants heading in the same direction as the victim after she left Central Square.
They were seen returning about 10 minutes later before meeting up with a friend and driving off.
The hearing continues.
