Teenager accused of rape of 12-year-old in Kidlington

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of raping a girl at Exeter Park in June 2021, when he was 13 years of age.

The teenager has denied the offence.

He is now standing trial at Oxford Crown Crown where the proceedings are being presided over by Judge Maria Lamb.

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The jury heard the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has since died.

The reason for her passing has not been disclosed in court. 

On Wednesday (February 21), the court heard from two witnesses who were in the park on the day of the alleged incident.

Oxford Crown Court (Image: NQ)The first witness, a girl who was with the complainant, said the pair were drinking lemonade in the park when they were approached by three boys – including the defendant.

She said: “[One boy] put something in my drink and [the girl’s] drink. I said to her that the drink didn’t taste right.

“I didn’t drink it but she did and she had quit a lot.

"I didn’t realise it was alcohol but she started acting differently and she couldn’t walk in a straight line.

“She said something to [the defendant] and started crying. She didn’t tell me why she was crying.

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“Then the boys went off and came back again and [the defendant] said to [the girl], ‘Let’s go in the bushes and have some fun.”

A second witness, who didn’t know either the defendant or the complainant, said she was at a nearby park with her children when she saw the girl ‘stumbling across the field’.

A 16-year-old is accused of raping a girl in Exeter Park (Image: Martini)

Speaking to the jury, she said: “She was intoxicated. Her dress was ripped at the top by her straps.

“Her words were slurred and she was crying. She said that she had been drinking and that she had been in the bushes with a young boy.

“I asked her if they did anything in the bush and she said she had had sex in the bush but then she kept changing her mind saying she didn’t have sex, then she did have sex, then she didn’t again.

“I asked her if she had had her virginity taken and she said yes.”

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The witness added the girl did not have any knickers on and seemed ‘confused and upset’.

The jury heard the girl kept trying to run back to the three boys but the witness stopped her.

Police were then called to the park and the teenage boy was later arrested and charged.

The trial continues.