News

Man cleared of rape: 'it was just rough sex'

By Mike Wright
July 15, 2010

A FARNBOROUGH man has been acquitted of raping a woman he met while on a night out in a Camberley nightclub.

A jury found David Snook not guilty after his week-long trial came to an end at Guildford Crown Court on Monday (July 12).

During the trial, the demolition worker had been accused of forcing himself on the woman after the pair went to a secluded spot by Camberley Library, off Knoll Road.

However, Mr Snook, 22, of Sine Close, maintained that the pair had consensual "rough sex" after meeting in Tru club.

He took to the witness stand last Friday to answer questions from prosecutor Karen Holt, who showed CCTV footage of Mr Snook and the woman inside the club on November 14 last year.

He said the pair had bumped into each other on the dancefloor and started dancing together before the woman asked him to go outside with her to get some money.

When asked why the woman had not used the cash machine inside the club, he said he thought she wanted to get him out of the club.

Mr Snook said he had previously gone to the secluded part of Knoll Road before to have sex with girls and that it was a spot young people could go to for privacy.

However, he told the jury he had not expected sex from the woman as they left the club.

“It could have been for foreplay, kissing, cuddling, whatever,” he said.

The jury heard that when the couple got to the spot they had sex, which Mr Snook said was instigated by the woman and left him with red marks on his arms.

For more on this story, see this week's Farnborough and Camberley editions of the News & Mail, out now.

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david is a good man i new him from school. RAPE what a joke. silly little girls. my mate life is now under fret because they give his name and his adress to the publick.

she should be charge and named. but now they wont do that.

G farnborough

big gg
29/08/2010 at 12:43

get this off this site its not fair on the lad

camberley lad, old dean
20/07/2010 at 20:58

maybe it will be a lesson to young people who have sex in stupid places and without a thought of what their doing.. whatever happened to good old fashioned morals??????????????

tinks 41
19/07/2010 at 14:05

simonfromsurrey wrote: So he gets named. That's just not right

The whole anonymity thing needs to be looked at more carefully. In this case the poor guy is named - but is acquitted.

I can understand the argumnents put forward in favour of anonymity for women - but surely in the name of fairness maybe neither party should be named.. As I understand it the debate boils down to "without anonimity for women they will not come forward" with "anonymity for men any past victims will not come forward in the case of repeat offenders". Both of these are valid but we have to accept false accusations do happen and in these circumstances men do seem to be at a disadvantage.

pjt
19/07/2010 at 14:02

A rather unortunate business... but having sex with a someone you have only just met on the dancefloor (as is implied by the article)? Maybe I'm showing my age but perhaps it is better to get to know who you are with before-hand if you don't want to regret the encounter - for whatever reason.

pjt
19/07/2010 at 13:28

Ok so he is cleared thats good, However this man needs to now get his finger prints, photo and DNA sample OFF the police crime system and Police National computor systems

keith, guildford
16/07/2010 at 21:48

So he is innocent then.......what a pity he was named before being given a chance to state his case. Another mans life potentially ruined to try and encourage women to press charges and increase "success rates" of convictions - no matter a small thing called truth and justice!!!!!