A man allegedly raped a woman "no more than 30 seconds' walk from the police station" after they'd left a pub together, a court has heard. Daniel Gravell, 43, denies three counts of rape across a 20-year period after nights out at venues and parties in Carmarthen.
The trial at Swansea Crown Court last week heard from the alleged victims, two of whom the prosecution say were "hopelessly and helplessly" intoxicated when the alleged rapes occurred.
The trial on Monday heard from one of the alleged victims who claimed she was raped by Gravell in an alleyway in 2005. She told the court she and Gravell had left the Rose and Crown and walked towards Carmarthen Athletic Club, when they went down an alleyway. She said the defendant grabbed her arm and that she tried to get away from him but that: “He was stronger than me, I tried my best."
The court heard the defendant started having sex with the alleged victim while she had her back against the wall and that she mouthed 'help' to a passer-by. She also said she tried to put her head up when they passed the athletic club so someone in the window so someone might see her but that Gravell pushed it back down.
Tom Crowther KC, defending, asked the alleged victim how this “crucial piece of information” about a potential witness to the alleged rape only came to light last week and questioned her about how she had failed to mention this. The alleged victim says she had no way of knowing who the woman was but Mr Crowther insisted that was for the police to find out and not her. He said: “You didn’t even give the police a chance” when talking about locating the mentioned witness.
Mr Crowther then continued to ask her when she remembered the “crucial detail” and she replied that she could not remember exactly. The barrister added: “That’s not forgettable is it” and said it was a made-up detail, which she denied.
Another alleged offence is said to have taken place in 2002 when a separate alleged victim went to her friend's party where Gravell made the woman two cocktails. She went on to a venue in Carmarthen town centre but later felt unwell and returned to the house she had been at where she was sick. The court previously heard she was helped into a bed by her friend but later awoken by a “heavy sensation” and a “thrusting movement" and saw Gravell "in front of me, really, really close." She told the court: "I said get off twice. My hands didn’t work to push someone off. I was trying to push him off." She told the court Gravell said to her: "‘It’s OK, it’s (name of her ex boyfriend).” You can read our live coverage from the trial so far here.
The final woman Gravell is accused of raping had been on a night out with her sister in February 2022 when she went to bars in Carmarthen but was unable to remember anything after arriving at the second venue. The jury heard she woke up alone in her bed, she had been sick and felt very unwell. Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe told the jury she hadn't felt right "down there" and became aware of a burning sensation so arranged to take the morning after pill. When she went downstairs there were beer cans and white powder that she didn't recognise. The jury heard that when Gravell was arrested he said he met the woman at the bar and they had sex but it had been consensual. Gravell, of Porth Y Plas, Johnstown, denies three counts of rape. The trial continues.
Follow live coverage of the trial below:
Bryana Francis
Trial adjourns for the day
That concludes the evidence of the witness and the trial adjourns for the day. The prosecution will finish outlining their case on Tuesday morning when the trial continues at 10.30am.
Bryana Francis
Witness read allegations against Gravell in a Daily Mail article
Mr Martin explains Gravell had been “rock solid” in his life, mentioning a time when he was depressed and had lost his job during the financial crash in 2008. He said he later read a Daily Mail article which said Gravell had been accused of three separate incidents of rape, one of which was in 2002.
Tom Crowther KC cross-examines the witness and asks him about his relationship with Gravell. Mr Crowther said the defendant had told him he saw less of the witness after a pub fight in the late 2000s. But the witness doesn’t accept that, saying he is unable to recall a pub fight.
Mr Crowther finishes his brief cross-examination by saying: “I’m going to suggest there was no relationship between the defendant and the alleged victim and he had never made those comments to you.” Mr Martin disagrees with this.
Bryana Francis
Friend of Gravell says defendant he had slept with alleged victim while she was drunk
Matthew Cobbe calls Stefan James Martin to the stand in reference to the 2002 alleged rape. Mr Martin knew Daniel Gravell from the area, explaining that in Carmarthen “most of us all know each other.”
He says the defendant would often talk about his dating life with him, recalling: “He brags about most people he’s slept with.”
He explains Gravell told him he had slept with the alleged victim from 2002 when she was drunk and had told her he was the name of her ex-boyfriend.
Bryana Francis
Prosecution asks witness about the passer-by she says she saw
Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, asks his client some follow-up questions about when she remembered about the passer-by and whether it had been when she was alone or with other people.
She explains it had been when she was talking to police support officers: “When I’m talking about it I can see it there.”
Ryan O'Neill
Alleged victim claims she tried to put her head up so she might be seen but defendant forced it down
Mr Crowther moves on to asking her what happened when they walked past the athletic club. The alleged victim explains she was trying to put her head up so she may be seen through the windows but that Gravell forced it down.
Tom Crowther KC finishes his cross-examination of the alleged victim by asking her why she had added Gravell as a Facebook friend, suggesting it was a strange thing to want to be friends on Facebook.
Mr Crowther explains that when the accusation had been brought to Gravell he said: “She’s my Facebook friend.” When asked about this she replies: “I cannot remember being his Facebook friend.”
Bryana Francis
Alleged victim asked about mouthing 'help' to passer-by during the incident
The barrister talks about a woman who walked past. The alleged victim says a woman walked past them and she mouthed to her the words “help” but was dismissed with a disgusted look.
Mr Crowther explains how this “crucial piece of information” only came to light last week and questions the witness about how she had failed to mention there may have been someone who saw what happened. “The part you were ignored is a crucial part of this,” Mr Crowther says.
The alleged victim says she had no way of knowing who the woman was but Mr Crowther insists that was for the police to find out and not her. He says: “You didn’t even give the police a chance” when talking about locating the mentioned witness.
Mr Crowther then continues to ask her when she remembered the “crucial detail” and she replies that she cannot remember exactly. The barrister adds: “That’s not forgettable is it” and says it is a made-up detail, which she denies.
Bryana Francis
Alleged victim explains incident in alleyway
Mr Crowther moves on to when the alleged rape took place after they’d had walked down the alleyway. The witness explained her back was against a wall and they were both standing up. The barrister asks how it is possible that he was able to have sex with her when she was shorter than him and they were both standing against a wall.
Mr Crowther says: “I’m going to suggest it doesn’t make any biological sense.”
He continues: “The only way you could have had sex is if he turned you around and was behind you, but you have said that is not what happened.”
The witness explains he was bending down slightly and this was how it had happened.
Bryana Francis
'I tried to get away, I tried'
Mr Crowther asks if they took a shortcut when they left the pub and headed towards the Carmarthen Atletic Club. The witness and the defence barrister agreed the route they took when they left had not necessarily been a shortcut but was “definitely more private.”
Mr Crowther states how at the time Carmarthen police station had been very near where the alleged rape took place. He said: “You are saying you were raped no more than 30 seconds walk from the police station.” She agrees.
The alleged victim said Gravell had grabbed her arm as they walked down the alley. She said they were walking fast and at one point he started jogging.
She explains that as they were walking she tried to talk him out of it and Mr Crowther KC asks whether she screamed, to which she replies that she didn’t. She said: “I tried to get away, I tried.”
“He was stronger than me, I tried my best,” she recalls emotionally.
Bryana Francis
Trial resumes
The trial has resumed on Monday morning. Defence barrister Tom Crowther KC has called a third complainant to the witness box for cross-examination. The woman is being asked about an evening out in Carmarthen in 2005.
The jury are shown a walk through of Carmarthen town centre, starting at the Rose and Crown pub on Lammas Street and an old map which shows what the town centre looked like at the time.
