A mother-of-three was orally raped ‘until she died’ while she laid unconscious on a park bench, a court has heard.
NHS worker Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, West London, jurors were told.
Iidow Mohamed, 35, is accused of taking advantage of her in the early hours of July 17, 2021. He denies rape and manslaughter.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Ms Shotter’s body was discovered on the bench hours after the attack by a passerby.
‘What had happened to Natalie was not clear,’ she said. ‘She had not been stabbed or beaten to death. There were no signs of significant injury to her body, and no one else was with her.’
CCTV footage of the night shows the defendant engaging in acts of oral penetration, the court heard.
Ms Morgan continued: ‘It has taken time to understand what must have happened to Natalie to cause her death.
‘Crucially, a CCTV camera at some distance away from the bench reveals what happened to her that night.’
Ms Morgan described Ms Shotter as ‘vulnerable’, saying she had struggled with mental health issues, alcohol dependency and drug abuse.
‘On the night in question, Natalie was out enjoying herself and was taken advantage of by this defendant,’ said Ms Morgan.
‘She was raped repeatedly by this defendant and it was the process of raping her, again and again, that caused her death.
‘Although it is grainy and at a distance, the CCTV footage shows the defendant engaging in acts of oral penetration.
‘From the footage and the absence of movement by her, Natalie does not appear to have been conscious at the time she was raped, let alone consenting to what the defendant was doing to her.
‘He could never have believed that she was consenting. This defendant’s actions – the process of raping her repeatedly – caused Natalie’s death.’
The court heard Ms Shotter was very vulnerable on the night of the attack. She measured little more than 5ft and weighed just over six and a half stone (43kg), jurors were told.
Ms Morgan said Ms Shotter had been drinking and may have inhaled the legal high amyl nitrate – also known as poppers – but insisted these did not cause her death.
‘The prosecution’s case is that consuming substances made Natalie all the more vulnerable,’ she said.
‘It did not cause her death, but it may well explain how it was that she came to be on that bench in the park, on her own, in the middle of the night, lying on her side, vulnerable to males in that park.’
The court was shown CCTV from earlier in the night which showed Ms Shotter walking through the streets and talking on her mobile.
At one point she stopped outside a shop to dance to the sound of a drum and was joined by a man and two other women.
Ms Morgan pointed out that Ms Shotter did not appear to be so drunk that she was unable to stand or struggling to walk, adding she looked ‘happy’.
Jurors were told they will see further CCTV footage of the park where Natalie died which will show Mohamed assaulting her.
Yesterday, he spoke only to confirm his name and plead not guilty to rape and manslaughter.
The trial continues.