A 21-year-old single mother who says she was abducted and raped at knifepoint in north London has told a court how Joseph McCann, 34, kept calling her his “girlfriend” after the attack.
McCann, 34, denies 37 charges of rape and indecent assault against 11 women and children aged between 11 and 71. The alleged attacks took place between 20 April and 5 May this year in London, Hertfordshire, Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire.
Sidhu says there’s an “alternative picture” to the woman’s claim that she was forced at knifepoint into #McCann’s car. He suggests they got chatting & McCann offered her a lift home which she accepted. The woman denies it. She starts crying, wiping away tears with a tissue
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawBBC) November 14, 2019
John Little QC, prosecuting, said the victims included a teenage girl and her younger brother who were raped in front of each other while their mother was tied up in another room.
The jury has heard that McCann was arrested on 5 May when he was discovered by police in a tree near Congleton, Cheshire.
The trial's begun of a 34 year old man accused of a string of brutal rapes across the North West. Joseph Mccann is accused of 37 charges including multiple rapes, kidnap and false imprisonment involving 11 victims nationwide - one as young as 11 year old #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/tmK5s9n3DE
— North West News (@HeartNWNews) November 12, 2019
The first alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court on Wednesday, 13 November, how she was bundled into McCann’s car as she walked home from the Pryzm nightclub in Watford in the early hours of 21 April.
She said he took her back to her flat and raped her twice and said he told her he had just come out of prison after 18 years.
Alleged serial rapist Joseph McCann subjected a woman to a 14-hour ordeal after she was kidnapped and forced into his car, a court hears. He allegedly raped her repeatedly, forced her to call him 'Daddy' and threatened to stab her in incidents of "shocking depravity and violence"
— Tristan Kirk (@kirkkorner) November 12, 2019
On Thursday, 14 November, the jury at the Old Bailey was shown CCTV footage from a petrol station the following morning as McCann pulled up and went inside to try and get cash from an ATM.
Jo Sidhu QC, defending McCann, asked the woman why she had not got out of the car when he went inside the petrol station.
He said: “You said you were terrified and you wanted to get away. When he goes into the shop why are you not out of that car in a flash and gone?”
She replied: “I don’t know. I didn’t know where I stood because he knew where I lived.”
Mr Sidhu asked her if it was not the case that the sex was consensual and she was hoping to become McCann’s girlfriend because his family were notorious and she hoped to get their protection and possibly money.
Alleged serial rapist Joseph McCann bound a mother in electrical wiring and tied her to her bed while he attacked her 11-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter in the room next door, the Old Bailey has heard today.
— CourtNewsUK (@CourtNewsUK) November 13, 2019
She denied that was the case.
Mr Sidhu said: “When you were in your flat you took a bath together didn’t you?”
“No,” she replied.
He asked: “You kept your bra on in the bath didn’t you?”
“No,” she replied.
“Do you have a scar on your breasts?” Mr Sidhu asked.
“No. I have no scars. That is a lie. I haven’t had any surgery. I’ll happily show anyone to prove it,” she replied.
To all those reporting or sharing details of #josephmccann trial, please use trigger warnings & be mindful that excessive reporting of this shocking case has huge impact on victims family & friends & survivors of rape @IpsoNews
— Victims’ Commissioner for London (@LDNVictimsComm) November 13, 2019
Mr Sidhu said that would not be necessary and he then said she had been stabbing the wall of the bathroom with a knife while she was in the bath.
“That’s a lie. That didn’t happen,” she replied.
Mr Sidhu said: “He asked you if you wanted to have sex and you said yes, didn’t you?”
“No,” she replied.
“You had sex without a condom, didn’t you?” Mr Sidhu asked.
“We didn’t have sex. But no he didn’t use a condom,” she corrected him.
Mr Sidhu said: “I know you say it was rape, but during that sexual activity you were scratching his back and calling him Daddy, weren’t you?”
“No, I wasn’t,” she replied.
Mr Sidhu suggested she asked McCann to choke her and exchanged lovebites with him. She denied that was the case.
Concluding his cross examination, Mr Sidhu said: “On behalf of Joseph McCann it is our case that you were not kidnapped by him, you were not held against your will by him and you were not raped by him. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she replied.
The court then heard a statement from the woman’s mother who said she turned up at her door at 9.30 on the morning of Easter Sunday and said she had been raped at knifepoint.
She said her daughter wrote down the registration number of her assailant’s car on a piece of paper, which was later handed to police.
The mother said: “She was crying her eyes out. She was terrified. Someone had taken her into a car and made her do things she did not want to do. She said it was Joe or Joey and later she said his name was McCann.”
Several police officers’ statements were read out. One of them said the alleged victim gave police various items of clothing and other evidence which she believed might contain the perpetrator’s DNA.
The trial continues.
