Decision expected Monday in case of rape and buggery of 15-year-old girl

The High Court has been preoccupied this week with a trial involving two men of Clare Valley who are charged with thrice raping, once buggering, and once indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

All five charges laid against 36-year-old Jaranza ‘Potro’ Howe and 26-year-old Kozan ‘Deuce’ Haywood, stem from an incident that is alleged to have taken place on July 18, 2014.

While the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sejilla McDowall, and crown counsel Renée Simmons are prosecuting, attorney Grant Connell is defending the two men against the charges.

The complainant gave evidence on the first day of trial. She said that she was visiting someone in Clare Valley at the time, and had gone to a barbecue at a bar on that evening.

At the barbecue, she said the two men spoke to her and bought a beer for her. They asked her if she was ready to go home, and she replied that she was. She said that she saw Haywood go to tell her female companion, who he claimed to be friends with, that they would take her home. Haywood then came back and told her that they were told they could follow her home.

Rain started falling heavily on the way, and she said they held her hand and led her through an alley to a house with a tree next to it. She was sheltering under the tree, and the two men were conversing. Then, she was suddenly pulled into the house by ‘Potro’ harshly, and she was screaming.

In this house, they took turns having sexual intercourse with her. ‘Potro’ raped her first, and she said he choked her when she continued to scream. She said she begged him to stop, but to no avail.

After this she said that she asked to go to the washroom to try and escape, but Haywood entered the washroom and raped her. She was apparently ordered back into the bedroom, forced to partake in oral sex and sexual intercourse at the same time. Howe then forced her to have anal sex, and Haywood raped her again after this.

The victim said she was crying during this, and felt ashamed and afraid. She said that a condom that Haywood was using broke.

After everything, the victim said that she was told to shower. She said, in an effort to silence her, the two men threatened her life, and her family’s life.

They took her back to the bar to find the female companion she had gone to the barbecue with. Haywood gave her “morning after” pills the day after, and she did not tell anyone until she saw her mother.

Because she was bleeding at the time, a medical examination did not take place until 10 days after the alleged incident, but when it occurred, bruises were noted.

Both defendants are maintaining that the sexual intercourse was completely consensual. While Howe stuck to an electronic interview he had given the police. Haywood took the stand to give evidence.

From his version of events, the complainant was asking for him at the bar, and she danced on him as they hung out. He bought her a beer, and asked her if she was old enough to have one. He said that she then led him away from the crowd and initiated a kiss. Howe caught them, apparently invited them to his house.

When the rain fell and they got to the house, Haywood said she was not forced but invited in. He said she was the one who pulled him to her and they began kissing. However, he was having problems “getting hard” and so stepped out of the room. Before this, he said he heard Howe asking for oral sex. When he returned he and the complainant had sexual intercourse once, according to Haywood. The condom did burst, and he said that the complainant told him to buy “family planning” pills as a result.

He said that she wanted to shower so that she wouldn’t smell of sexual intercourse when she went back. He said he bought the pills the day after, and coincidentally happened upon her while walking, and gave them to her.

The jury is expected to give a decision on the matter on Monday.