Woman 'tried to set up workmate's rape by tricking men on 'cougar'

A woman arranged for her work colleague to be raped at home by men she tricked on online sex chatrooms, a court heard today.

Joanne Berry, 30, is alleged to have posed on websites including Cougar Shag as a woman who liked 'role play' in sex and wanted 'to create some sort of rape scenario'.

On one occasion she instructed a man, Dean Hicks, to knock at her front door and then burst in and 'rape' her.

But Berry, a temporary administrator from Grove Park, south east London, didn't give Mr Hicks her own address, but that of a female acquaintance, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Andrew Espley told Maidstone Crown Court in Kent, where Berry is on trial, said: 'Joanne Berry arranged for men to go round to [the victim's] house and rape her.

'How did she do it? She went on various sex chat websites. She pretended she was [the victim], she gave [the victim's] address, she used her name, she gave the registration of her car which was going to be parked outside, pretended to be her.

'She then told the men to come round and engage in a fantasy rape game with her, basically to rape her.'

The court heard Berry had confided in the victim over claims she herself had been raped on March 3, 2012.

The victim had tried to support Berry, who sent her about 12 text messages a day. On April 13, 2012, when Berry texted her, implying she was going to kill herself, the victim decided to alert the police and give them Berry's phone number.

 Mr Espley said the victim later received a series of texts from Berry saying that 'she had thought she could trust her and now she had lost her job and lost her as a friend'.

A few days later the victim's sister, who lived with the victim, was at home alone when she heard banging on a door, but did not answer, believing it was next door.

The following day, on April 28, 2012, the sister answered the door after hearing another loud knock to a man who asked if her name was [the victim's name].

Mr Espley said: 'She said she wasn't and asked who he was. He said that he had been speaking to [the victim] all day online. '[The sister] thought that he might have the wrong address and the man said: "This is a f***ing wind up." He then left.' 

He said when the sister returned home later that day she found two messages on her answer phone, one saying: 'I am getting bored of this now, you are playing games' and a second saying: 'Sorry about that I think I have the wrong number'.

The following morning the victim was at home when she heard a banging on the front door and answered it to find a man she didn't know standing there.

Mr Espley said: 'He asked if she was [her name] and when she said she was he tried to push his way in.

'She immediately called up to her sister and at this point the man stopped and said: "Is this a wind up?".'

'He then began to say he had been chatting to someone online who he believed was her and that she wanted him to go to the house and carry out a fantasy rape by knocking on the front door and then trying to push his way in.

'The man said that once he had carried out the fantasy rape he was to ask for information about Joanne Berry.' 

The court heard the man, Mr Hicks, said he'd been told to ask for a password - 'feather' - which the victim remembered Berry had once told her reminded her of her grandparents.

Mr Hicks told the victim she should phone the police and he waited in his car until they arrived.

Berry is charged with putting the victim in fear of violence, committing an offence of assault with the intent of committing a relevant sexual offence, the common assault of the victim and attempting to cause the victim to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

Source-Dailym