Ross Davidson, who sang with Spandau Ballet, is on trail accused of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault – he allegedly told one woman ‘thanks for being cool about it’
A former Spandau Ballet frontman told a woman “thanks for being cool about it” when she calmly talked him down from raping her, a court has heard.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she woke up to find Ross Davidson trying to have sex with her in a hotel in Thailand without her permission and without a condom.
The tourist, whom Davidson had only met recently on Tinder, described herself as “naive” and very trusting” and had not thought someone would “mess with me” while she was asleep, Wood Green Crown Court heard.
The alleged incident happened after she and Davidson had drunk sex the night before and the woman had thought there was a “trust point where you trust that people will respect your boundaries”, the jury heard.
Davidson, 37, of Finchley, north London, is on trial accused of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault. He denies the charges.
The tourist told the police that it was daylight, she had slept heavily and was a bit hungover when she awoke to find herself in a “dangerous situation”. Davidson was “not wearing a condom and seemed surprised she woke up” and asked “what are you doing?
“His eyes were “weird and I did not know what was going to happen”, so she spoke calmly to him “to lessen it (the situation) so that he did not try to hurt me”.
In her police video interview, the woman recalled: “I remember him (Davidson) saying thanks for being cool about it. ” Recalling Davidson’s reaction when she woke up, the woman said: “He froze but he had this scary look on his face.
“”I thought there was a possibility he might hit me, but I do not know if that was just my perception, but all of these unseen possibilities of being physically harmed in various ways (came to me). “”I thought ‘oh my God’, I might die.
“I did not know what he was capable of.”
She said she told him he had to ask and that he was not wearing a condom, but she spoke in a soothing voice to defuse the situation.
Davidson was “very tense” at first but became “very calm” as she reassured him she was not “going to freak out,” she told detectives.
Davidson, who used the stage name of Ross Wild, had starred in Queen-based West End musical We Will Rock You, and performed in 2018 as the singer for 80s favourites Spandau Ballet.
The Aberdeen-born musical theatre actor, aspiring songwriter and singer is alleged to have raped a woman and filmed himself groping another.
Davidson has pleaded not guilty to the rape of a woman in London in March 2015. He also denies the attempted rape and sexual assault of another woman in Thailand in December 2019.
The jury has been told he has also pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism in December 2019 against the same woman.
Detectives tracked down the tourist after finding video footage of her on Davidson’s mobile phone where she is lying down “at least half naked” in a hotel bedroom in Phuket, Thailand, the prosecution said. The jury has been informed that she was fondled while “asleep, still and unresponsive”.
The woman, who was unaware of the video’s existence until informed by the police, described it as “disembodying to know that was taken, it feels disempowering”.
She characterised it as a “scary” and “horrible feeling”, expressing fear that it could have been uploaded to a pornography site.
The police reassured her that the footage seemed to be only on his mobile phone.In the image, the woman highlighted that she is not conscious, questioning: “How can you consent if you are asleep?” and “Also, why would I want this strange man to sexually assault me in my sleep?”
She stated “there is no way that was beneficial to me or a pleasure”. Defence counsel Charlotte Newell KC previously asserted that Davidson denies raping, attempting to rape or sexually assaulting either woman.
She said: “He will say there was no sex at all with her in London as he was not sexually attracted to her – and that maybe disappointing or upsetting – in reality there was no spark for him.”
Davidson refutes the allegation of attempting to rape a woman in her sleep when they were in Thailand, according to Ms Newell.
He maintains that the sexual touching was consensual and she was merely pretending to be asleep.
The trial continues.