British tourist gang-raped twice in four hours
Three men have been convicted after a British tourist was gang raped twice in the space of four hours in Benidorm.
The tourist had left a pub where she had been drinking to have a cigarette in the early hours of Oct 2 2016 when she was approached by the men.
They took her to a secluded park near a football ground in the Costa Blanca holiday resort area and attacked her.
She was then taken to waste ground near El Cisne flea market where she was raped again.
At the trial, at Alicante’s Audiencia provincial court, judges said the attackers took advantage of the fact their victim was under the influence of alcohol. She had been described as being in a state of “semi-consciousness” at the time.
The victim, who gave evidence from the UK via video link, said she did not have a good recollection of what happened but remembered coming to on the back seat of a car with her clothes unbuttoned and her legs outside of the vehicle.
She told the court she recalled feeling in pain and seeing “three or four men” near her. Reports at the time said she blamed the state she was in on the fact her drinks were spiked.
She managed to escape and returned to her hotel where she alerted her mother.
Insisted it was consensual
The three attackers, a Spaniard and two Moroccans aged between 24 and 34, have not been named ahead of a possible appeal.
They admitted to having sex with the tourist but insisted it was consensual.
The judges, who delivered their verdicts in a long written ruling, described the victim’s account of what had happened as “credible” despite the fact her memory had been affected by alcohol.
Other evidence, including an emergency call from a witness who saw a woman walking half-naked along a road near to where the second series of rapes took place, was also taken into account.
The men were found guilty and each jailed for eight-and-a-half years. They were also found guilty of theft after the victim had a watch and ring taken from her valued at £365.
Last October police arrested two men over the rape of a British tourist near Benidorm in a separate ongoing case.
Detectives revealed the holidaymaker was sexually attacked after agreeing to pay two men who offered to take her back to her hotel in their car for £13 as she waited for a taxi at the Costa Blanca resort.
She was allegedly raped at the home of one of the suspects after falling asleep in the back of the vehicle.
The men, both Algerian nationals and aged 39 and 44, were remanded in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
One was also being hunted over an alleged violent robbery two days before the attack in Villajoyosa next to Benidorm.
