'Gang-raped girl was glad of the attention,' says barrister

The barrister: Shellagh Davies says a teenage girl who claims she was gang-raped, had consented to sex 'maybe to gain attention'

A teenage girl who claims she was gang-raped by three 13-year-old boys would have been "glad of the attention", a woman barrister said.

The 16-year-old and a friend have told how the boys mugged them and then raped them repeatedly in a park while filming the ordeal on a mobile phone.

But Sheilagh Davies, defending the youngest of the three accused, said the girls had consented to sex "maybe to gain attention, maybe to gain affection".

The barrister told the jury that "things are not the way they used to be" and that girls' clothes put pressure on them to be sexually attractive "perhaps before their time".

Miss Davies suggested one of the girls, who has given evidencevia video link, had been overweight and had "slimmed down a lot" since the alleged attack in South-East London on November 23 last year.

The barrister said in her closing speech: "She was 12st 6lb - not quite the swan she may turn into.

"She may well have been glad of the attention."

Inner London Crown Court has heard how the boys, who are too young to be named, were vandalising a 261 bus heading from

Bromley to Lewisham when they accosted the two girls and robbed them of their mobile phones.

The defendants allegedly followed the girls into Churchdown, Bromley, and told them they would return their phones in return for sex before subjecting them to a degrading assault.

Miss Davies said: "No one suggests this is a lesson in politeness and gallantry. It is all too unrealistic that sexual encounters between boys and girls who have never met before must be against the girls' will.

"I am afraid cold stark reality is that things are not the way they used to be and every parent lives with the moment when their children start experimenting with sex for the first time.

"The clothing available for young girls is so provocative they are worried about the effect that could have on them.

"There is pressure on girls from eight to wear these stomachrevealing outfits, skinny jeans worn way down on the hips.

"They are learning to be sexually attractive, perhaps before their time.

"It's about, 'Let's try it, let's get on with it.'

"I am afraid information in the media tells us that some girls do comply, maybe to gain attention, maybe to gain affection, and go along with it quite willingly."

One girl said she was forced to strip and lie face down while she was raped and the other described being made to perform a "disgusting" sex act. The boys warned them they would be killed if they called police, jurors have been told.

All three were arrested within a few days of the attacks but claimed either that nothing had happened or that what took place had been consensual.

The defendants, all from the Catford area, variously deny a 12-count indictment including robbery, rape, attempted rape and sexual assault. All three defendants deny robbing the girls.

The first alleged attacker, now 14, further denies two counts of rape and one of attempted rape.

The second alleged rapist, still 13, further denies two counts of rape and one of assault by penetration.

The third, also now 14, of Eltham, further denies one count of rape, one sexual assault and one assault by penetration of the first victim and one count of rape in relation to the second victim.

The trial continues.

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