Court told of computer search for rape porn
A computer owned by a Telford man accused of trying to rape a woman in broad daylight had been used to search the internet for "porn with rape" two weeks after the alleged offence, a court heard.
Witold Marek Pudlo, 31, of Riven Road, Hadley, is on trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court for attempted rape and sexual assault on a 21-year-old woman – both of which he denies.
The alleged victim, who told the court she was attacked while walking home from her boyfriend's house at about 4pm on Good Friday, April 3, said her assailant had approached her from behind on a path at the back of Wrekin College.
She said the attacker had grabbed her around the throat before pushing her to the floor and sexually assaulted her before trying to remove her jeans.
She told the jury that the man had noticed two people walking nearby and had run off.
Pc Stuart Ridgewell of Telford CID told the jury that blood matching Pudlo's DNA had been found on the outer waistband of the alleged victim's trousers.
Under cross examination from Mr Dean Easthope, representing Pudlo, the woman said she had not shouted or fought the man off because "I was quite shocked, I didn't know what to do".
She said the man had grabbed her bottom and had then moved down.
She added: "I felt two fingers grabbing my jeans straight after the touching."
Asked about when her attacker stopped she said: "At that point there were two people walking by. They were in the distance but you could see two figures already. I spotted them, not sure if I was first to spot them but not long after I noticed him stopping."
The woman returned to her home and in a statement read to the court by Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, her flatmate said she appeared to be having a panic attack and told him she had been attacked, repeating the phrase.
The jury, made up of eight women and four men, heard that Pudlo accepts attacking the woman but denies there was any sexual motive or offence. The court was told that he claims to have reacted to the woman sticking her middle finger up at him.
In an interview with police Pudlo answered no comment when asked why blood with DNA which matched his was found on the woman's jeans. He told police that he had been planning to walk to Wellington from his home that afternoon to get cash but had changed his mind.
Mr Tatlow also told the court that a computer seized from Pudlo's house had shown eight searches for "porn with rape" in Polish.
The searches were all carried out on YouTube on April 18.
The trial continues.
