A ‘blackmailer’ told a mechanic she would go to the police with a pair of body fluid-stained leggings unless he give her a new car or hand over hundreds of pounds for her newly-repaired Renault Twingo, a jury heard.

Ilka Vari-Lavoisier, 36, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – then wiped his body fluid on the leggings as he drove her home after she brought in her car on October 24, 2020.

Opening the Crown’s case against her at Oxford Crown Court on Monday, prosecutor Jonathan Stone told the jury that the man subsequently received ‘blackmail’ messages from two mobile numbers two days after he was allegedly fondled in the car.

The first was said to have been Vari-Lavoisier’s. The second was a French-registered telephone number, starting with the digits +33, saved in her Samsung handset as ‘own number’.

She allegedly began sending the ‘blackmail’ messages on October 26, starting with a demand that he show her ‘the new car’.

On that day, the mechanic informed her the repaired Renault Twingo was ready and she would have to pay £150 for the costs of the repair.

Vari-Lavoisier allegedly sent a photograph, the jury heard. The man asked what it was. “Your sperm on my leggings,” she allegedly replied. “Excuse me? What are you talking about,” he said.

She repeated her demand for pictures of the ‘new car’, while the man repeated his protestation that he did not know what she was ‘talking about’, the jury heard.

The defendant allegedly messaged: “I’m very serious. I’m very smart. Don’t waste time.”

The complainant replied, after asking ‘what new car’: “You’re blackmailing me. This is not good. Please come and collect your car.” He warned her that he would go to the police too, it was said.

Jurors were told that later that afternoon, Vari-Lavoisier allegedly sent a link to Crown Prosecution Service guidance on ‘rape and sexual offences’. Details sent with it included the words: “Rape carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.”

From around 9am the following morning, the complainant was said to have received further messages this time from a French-registered number.

The French number began the day asking him if he wanted a ‘win win’. Get her a new car and she would give him the leggings and ‘an amazing second time’, it was said.

Later in the conversation, the person using the French number allegedly texted: “You raped me and I can prove it with your DNA.” He replied: “I’ve not raped you. You’re lying.”

‘She’ went on to suggest he buy the car from her, jurors were told. “Think your life is worth more than £700? Just buy the car,” it was said she messaged. The texter allegedly told him: “It’s a very good offer. You should say yes before I change my mind and ask for more.”

Vari-Lavoisier went to the police on November 2 to report being sexually assaulted herself. She later told detectives that the mechanic had taken her to a ‘secluded spot’, told her to get in the back seat of the car then sexually assaulted her. Police 'looked into her allegation' against the man and conducted 'CCTV trawls', Mr Stone said, but the matter was 'not proceeded with'. 

Earlier on the day she made her report to the police, on November 2, the man had informed her that he too had gone to the police and if she wished to get her car back she would have to call the force, jurors were told.

Mr Stone said: “Our case, put simply, is what the defendant had to say when she called the police was borne of desperation when she realised she’d been reported by [the complainant] and her car had been seized.” He described it as a ‘last roll of the dice’, although the gamble ‘didn’t pay off’.

In her police interview, Vari-Lavoisier was said to have maintained her account that she was sexually assaulted. She said a friend, whom she would not name, sent the messages from the French number. The friend was alleged to have said ‘don’t worry, they’ll sort it all out for her’, the jury was told.

The prosecutor told the court there was a ‘wide chasm’ between the defence and the Crown’s case. The two sides were not on the same page, Mr Stone said. “We’re not even in the same notebook.”

He added it was for the Crown to prove its case against Vari-Lavoisier so they were sure of her guilt.

Vari-Lavoisier, of Circus Street, Oxford, denies blackmail and sexual assault. The trial continues.

  • Vari-Lavoisier was subsequently acquitted when the prosecution offered no evidence part-way through its case. You can read this story here.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward