A 15-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by a tourist in the sea off a Bournemouth beach tearfully told a court today how she struggled to fight her attacker off as he dragged her out of her depth.
Gabriel Marinoaica is accused of deliberately pulling the teenage girl out to sea before sexually assaulting her under the water.
He is alleged to have placed his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming out as he then raped her.
The girl, who could not swim, broke free when one of Marinoaica’s friends approached them and she managed to make her way back to shore to her friends, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.
The incident happened in the sea next to Bournemouth Pier on July 18 2021, one of the hottest days of that summer.
Gabriel Marinoaica (pictured today) is accused of deliberately pulling the teenage girl out to sea before sexually assaulting her under the water
Marinoaica is pictured leaving Bournemouth Crown Court. He is on trial for one charge of rape and four counts of sexual assault, which he denies
Marinoaica, who has been pictured for the first time, is on trial for one charge of rape and four counts of sexual assault, which he denies.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave a police interview two days after the alleged incident and this was played to Bournemouth Crown Court.
She told them Marinoaica, then aged 18, had been there with another young man, who was talking to her friend in the sea.
She said the pair spoke in their own language, but she couldn’t tell what that was and described his skin colour as mixed race, like a mix ‘between Spanish and Pakistani.’
She said: ‘There was another man there trying to touch my mate so she went. I stayed but I didn’t think that was going to happen at all.
‘He was with just one other person.
‘He said he was 17 and told me his name was Dabi and he was driving back to Birmingham.
‘He was telling me he could touch the floor, to make me feel safe.
‘He was touching my bum and I kept telling him no, I was uncomfortable. He said ‘should we smash?’ I said no I was uncomfortable.
The incident happened in the sea next to Bournemouth Pier on July 18 2021, one of the hottest days of that summer
‘He put his hand over my mouth. I was only with him for about six minutes then his mate came over so I was able to push him away and get out of the sea.
‘I was trying to push the water because I can’t swim, I was trying to get back.
‘I went to my friends, I was crying and told them what happened.
‘I tried to go to the toilets, he was running after me, trying to get me to Snapchat. I said I didn’t have it and he started calling me a liar. My friend said go away, she needs to go the toilet.’
After the girl reported the matter to the police traces of semen were found on her bikini bottoms, but they did not match any DNA in the police database.
It was another 11 months before Marinoaica, from Walsall, West Mids, was identified through police inquiries and his DNA matched the sample from the bikini.
The girl, now aged 17, became upset when being cross-examined by Marinoaica’a defence barrister Sophie Murray.
Ms Murray asked her why she didn’t try to get her friends’ attention during the alleged attack. She said: ‘It was very busy, we were sat further back, I couldn’t see them in my line of sight at all.’
Marinoaica claims the sex was consensual and he thought the girl was aged 17 or 18.
The girl told the court that she told him she was 15 and kept telling him no.
The trial continues.