Ex-Spandau Ballet singer Ross Davidson smirks as he is arrested for raping ladies

Ross Davidson, 38, who performed under stage name Ross Wild as lead singer for Spandau Ballet in 2018, has been jailed for 14 years for rape, sexual assault and voyeurism offences against six women

Police bodycam footage captured the moment a former Spandau Ballet frontman smirked as he was arrested for raping women. Ross Davidson, 38, was naked when police first confronted him in his home on an earlier occasion.

He believed he could have “sex on demand” but has now been caged for 14 years for a string of rapes and sexual assaults. Davidson, was found guilty across two trials of two counts of rape, an attempted rape, three sexual assaults, and two charges of voyeurism, in crimes committed against six women between August 2013 and December 2019.

The performer, who went by the stage name Ross Wild, had appeared in Queen-inspired West End show We Will Rock You and took to the stage in 2018 as the lead vocalist for 1980s legends Spandau Ballet.

He branded himself “sex positive” and insisted all interactions with the women were consensual, but juries convicted him of a catalogue of offences.

At Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday, Judge John Dodd KC, the Recorder of Haringey, said: “For a period of six years between 2013 to 2019 and at a time when your stage and musical career was fast developing, and you were seen by many as a charismatic artist, you were also behaving to women in a wholly disgraceful manner.”

The judge told Davidson he had an “adventurous attitude to matters sexually” and treated the women, some of who cared or loved him, “without respect.”

Each of his six victims delivered testimony “vividly and without exaggeration” to detail how he had “abused” their trust, the judge said. Davidson recorded himself raping one woman and some of the sexual assault charges, which were based on videos retrieved from his phone, showed “strikingly similar” incidents where he touched sleeping women, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutor Richard Hearnden said videos were captured when women were “as vulnerable as can be” as they were in “such a deep sleep that they could not be disturbed”. They discovered about the sexual assaults when the police informed them.

Five of the women attended the hearing, including three who sat silently in the court as the sentence was delivered.

Davidson sat reading a book in the dock as statements detailing the ongoing trauma endured by the victims were heard in court.

The Aberdeen-born musical theatre actor, aspiring songwriter and singer, from Finchley, north London, was found guilty in July 2024 after his first trial, of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and voyeurism, involving offences against four women.

At the second trial last January, a jury found him guilty of raping a woman in London in March 2015, and the attempted rape and sexual assault of another woman in Thailand in December 2019.

Davidson had earlier admitted to a charge of voyeurism in December 2019 against the same woman in Thailand, after a video he had filmed of her while she slept was discovered on his mobile phone.

Mr Hearnden had stated that Davidson was perceived as “a bit of a sex symbol”, but the two women claim he harboured “a much darker side that they did not notice, at least at first”.

Despite his success, musical talent and being seen as “charming and charismatic”, Mr Hearnden said: “it is because Ross Davidson expects to get sex on demand that he will resort to rape and sexual assault if he is not given what he thinks he deserves”.

Davidson, who encountered the women via the Tinder dating app, maintained during the trial that all sexual encounters were consensual.

The woman whose rape Davidson recorded branded his actions as “unforgivable” and expressed: “I was traumatised”.

Another victim, in her statement, declared: “Since the rape, my life has been permanently changed. I no longer feel safe or able to trust the world as I once did.

“Ordinary situations can feel threatening, and I live with constant anxiety and hyper-vigilance. Emotionally, I experience fear, sadness, anger, and at times numbness. My sleep is disrupted, and I often feel exhausted.”

A third woman revealed she “developed anxiety” after learning about the sexual assault.

Another victim, who is currently on medication following a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, described herself as now “guarded and introverted”, contrasting with her previous sociable nature.

Upon discovering she had been filmed, she confessed: “My heart sank. I was distraught. I felt violated and betrayed by someone I trusted.

“This was an awful thing to learn and it had an immediate impact on my mental wellbeing. I was struggling to sleep, focus on work and interact normally with friends and family.

“I found myself intermittently between tears and anger because of what he did to me. He had no right to do what he did and it made me feel disgusted with him.”

Another woman, who was 16 when her relationship with Davidson turned “toxic”, said he had “took away my youth, innocence and right to freedom”.

She battled to muster the courage to step forward to provide evidence about the voyeurism charge but felt it was the correct course of action.

His final victim, who was assaulted in Thailand, labelled Davidson as a “coward”, stating “by refusing to admit his guilt I feel that he has retraumatised me – I find his cowardice utterly deplorable.”

She claimed Davidson had “irreparably damaged” numerous people, adding “I hope one day he finds peace with God as I will never forgive him.”

The woman continued: “Throughout April 2023, I was consumed with fear, shame and anger. I no longer felt safe in my own body. I struggled with night terrors. Eventually, I developed insomnia.

“I grew deeply paranoid and began to wonder who else in my life had hurt me or had taken advantage of me without my knowledge.”

Defence barrister Charlotte Newell KC explained there was a time when Davidson endured “crippling effects” of undiagnosed ADHD and was “self-medicating” with drugs and alcohol which were “readily available” during his career as a pop star.

There has been a transformation in his awareness and he displays “genuine remorse” which is aided by maintaining a structured daily routine behind bars, receiving treatment for his conditions, being in a long-term relationship and having a supportive family, she stated.

Following the hearing, Shikha Verma, the senior crown prosecutor at CPS London, branded Davidson “a predatory sex offender who targeted multiple victims over a number of years”.

She continued: “I want to pay tribute to the victims for their immense courage in supporting the prosecution and Davidson has now been held accountable for his horrific crimes.”

Detective Constable Kamila Kedadrova stated: “I am incredibly grateful for the continued support from victims throughout the investigation and court process, which has undoubtably aided today’s outcome.

“Our dedicated team of officers, who identified, contacted, and provided support to victims, have handled the case with sensitivity and thoroughness over the past six years.”