East London crime news: Barrister, 39, accused of raping Tinder date tells court ‘she was forward’

A barrister accused of carrying out a sex act on a woman without her consent told a court that ‘she was forward, she was bawdy’ and ‘firtatious from the get-go’. 

Robin Jacobs, 39, allegedly assaulted the woman not long after meeting her on the dating app Tinder in September 2017. 

On the night of the incident, they met for pizza and wine at a restaurant for their third date in South Woodford before returning to Jacobs’ house where they engaged in consensual sex. 

Jacobs, who was called to the Bar in 2006, claimed he ‘knew immediately there was a problem’ after the woman shouted ‘get off’ when he tried a sex act and locked herself in the bathroom ‘for what felt like an eternity’. 

Taking to the witness stand at the Old Bailey today, Jacobs said that he thought the woman was ‘probably up’ for the sex act and insists he’d done the same with four other women, without discussion. 

After she exited the toilet, he asked her, ‘are you going to report me?’ and told jurors that he was concerned about the Bar Standards Board. 

However, the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – claims he ignored her screams and allegedly chuckled to himself and said: ‘It’s not funny, I shouldn’t laugh’ as she lay face down on his bed.  

He disputed her claim that she had screamed ‘get off’ three times and denied that the alleged assault lasted 20 to 30 seconds. 

He said: ‘I thought that she probably would be up for [the sex act] but if she wasn’t, there’d be ample opportunity for her to be able to tell me that she wasn’t and then obviously I would stop.’

As well as this particular date, jurors heard how they also met up for a cup of tea and had engaged in ‘sexually suggestive’ messages in where they had discussed their fantasy of a threesome.

He continued: ‘One of the themes in her account is that I’m the person who just initiates something and she’s stood there in silence the whole time like some innocent bystander. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

‘There is no similarity with the girl on the screen to the girl I was dating. She was completely different, she was forward, she was bawdy, she was flirtatious from the get go, it isn’t a case of me initiating everything.’

When questioned in interview about the messages, Jacobs said he was confused about what had happened and was only trying to ‘fit in’ with his behaviour.

When asked by prosecutor Fiona Ray how often he had engaged in the same sex act with other women without giving ‘any verbal warning’, he said that ‘at least four came to mind’ and that he had not faced previous issues. 

Meanwhile, the woman told police officers: ‘[There was] no discussion, absolutely no warning, there was no touching, foreplay, warning. There was nothing.’

She was examined at a specialist sexual assault clinic and was found to have a fresh laceration. Jurors also heard that in the aftermath of the incident, Jacobs had told himself twice, ‘It’s not funny, I shouldn’t laugh’ before laughing. 

After realising she was upset, he told the woman to ‘come for a cuddle’ and offered her a paracetamol.

A series of text messages between Jacobs and his friend Stewart Wallis were also read in court, with the defendant writing: ‘My date has just f***ed off… what’s the world come to?’

He later texted: ‘I just hope there’s no trouble as a result. I apologised repeatedly when she was here. All this fuss… Jesus.’

When questioned in interview about the messages, Jacobs said he was confused about what had happened and was only trying to ‘fit in’ with his behaviour. 

Giving evidence yesterday the barrister said he genuinely believed the woman was consenting to what went on.

‘I think she knew what I was going to do and was alright with it until she was hurt.’

The lawyer has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) which means he struggles to read social signals, the court has heard.

But in her closing speech today, Ms Ryan, prosecuting, said that Jacobs’ ASD diagnosis ‘was not a significant factor in the issue under consideration.

She said: ‘He was not misreading cues because of his autism. His autism didn’t have an impact on either his understanding of consent at that time.

‘He says he has have several sexual partners [from whom] he had not sought explicit consent from.

‘Maybe on this occasion, he thought he’d get another sort of “no cheeky, not in there”.

‘Maybe he was surprised at a woman standing up for her bodily autonomy in such a decisive way.

‘Maybe he thought the bewildered act would help smooth things over.’

Ms Ryan told jurors: ‘I didn’t expect Mr Jacobs to claim, with the hindsight that he has now, that [the woman] was actually consenting at the time, but it appears he is because he said yesterday that [the woman] did know and that she was fine with it until it hurt her.

‘Of course you decide, based on the evidence you’ve heard, but you don’t have to pretend that you haven’t lived in the world and you have no previous experience of the issues raised.

‘That’s not to say you should be making any moral judgements about what you personally would or wouldn’t like.

Addressing Jacobs’ laughter immediately after the alleged assault, Ms Ryan said: ‘People suffer from inappropriate laughter [but] equally please don’t give it more importance than it has.

‘Yes, [the woman] told friends and she told police about it because, as she said, she thought it was very odd and she was confused by it.

‘I’m sure it didn’t feel good for her, and Mr Jacobs has apologised for the impression it made upon her.

‘Please don’t be persuaded that [the woman] felt so offended by that laughter that she has made a baseless allegation. It’s not something to base this whole case on.’

In his evidence, Jacobs had described the woman as ‘sexually adventurous’ and ‘not a prude’ but, if that was the case ‘she’s not likely to be traumatised by momentary partial penetration which stopped as soon as she said,’ said Mr Ryan.

Referring to the sexually explicit messages they exchanged their first sexual encounter, Ms Ryan asked: ‘They enjoyed good communication about their wants and dislikes, so why not this?’

Stephen Rose, for Jacobs, told the court: ‘This is about a short relationship back in 2017, starting on Tinder between two mature adults both, it seems, looking for love.

‘I have no doubt that for some, if not all, of you, there have been parts of this trial that you’ve found distasteful to sit and listen to in the formality of this sort of setting.

‘Mr Jacobs, a barrister in the middle of his career, [was] diagnosed with ASD, a discovery with profound implications for his life and important implications for this trial.

‘And he discovers that in the contact of being accused of rape. To discover that at his stage in life is nothing short of devastating.

‘This is not about who you personally prefer best out of [the complainant] or Mr Jacobs; who you would choose to have a drink with or not have a drink with or anything of that nature.’

Ms Rose continued: ‘The reality is that nobody other than [the complainant and Mr Jacobs] can tell you the truth about consent or the reasonable belief in consent.’

Mr Rose read character references from Jacobs’ friends and colleagues describing him as ‘a very sensitive and empathetic person’ while expressing their shock at the allegations against him.

John McKendrick, QC, a former colleague of Jacobs at Hardwicke Buildings, wrote: ‘Robin has always presented as a thoughtful man. He has a clever mind, is well read, and has a range of intellectual interests.

‘I’ve never known him to be forceful in the expression of his views. He’s not overbearing, indeed as many barristers can be.’

Jacobs’ girlfriend Gizella Simpson-Hayes, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves and nurse advanced practitioner, wrote: ‘I am currently in a relationship with Robin and have been for just over two years.

‘We met in December 2019. In those two years I can safely say he has never let me down.

‘I’ve always found his honesty and integrity a refreshing change to the norm and I can honestly say I have never once questioned this.

‘He’s genuinely kind and thoughtful. He has never demonstrated any signs of physical violence nor anger or aggression and [he has] never reacted to a situation in an irrational manner since I’ve met him.

‘He appears to have an innate fear of causing any offence to people.’

Jacobs, of Woodford, has denied one count of rape. The trial continues.