Bali Hoxha, who was in the UK training Ukrainian soldiers, allegedly took advantage of a woman he met outside a fast-food shop in Norwich. He denies the charges against him
A Kosovan soldier, who was in the UK training Ukrainian soldiers, has been put on trial accused of raping and sexually assaulting a woman he met during a night out.
Prosecutor Grace Ong told jurors at Norwich Crown Court that 29-year-old Bali Hoxha and the woman “weren’t previously known to each other, they were strangers” when they encountered each other outside a fast-food shop in Norwich last year.
She alleged that the defendant “took advantage” of the woman, who rated her level of intoxication as seven out of 10, “took her to a secluded place in Norwich, removed her clothing and raped her”.
The barrister stated that the incident occurred around midnight on September 17 or in the early hours of September 18, but “we’re not quite sure what time this happened”.
She explained that the woman had dined with friends earlier in the evening and visited “to a couple of bars before coming across the defendant”. She noted that the woman “wasn’t drunk but was slightly the worse for wear for drink”.
“The defence will be, I anticipate, that (the woman) consented to all of this activity and was fully willing to take part in the sexual encounter between her and the defendant,” Ms Ong said. “The prosecution case is quite the contrary – that she didn’t want any sexual activity with the defendant.”
She described the woman as being “in her 20s”. She mentioned that as the woman was heading home, “she was walking past a kebab shop, or a takeaway”. “She saw this defendant outside that shop, he said ‘hi’, to her and she said ‘hi’ back and thereupon he kept, we say the prosecution, talking to her,” Ms Ong stated.
She mentioned that the defendant offered the woman some chicken, which the woman sampled. “(The woman) didn’t think it would go any further and decided to carry on walking again as it was getting late and she was tired,” Ms Ong explained.
She described how the defendant “kept following” the woman, “kept trying to talk to her and put his arm around her and say things like ‘I really like the way you look’ and ‘you’re really pretty’.”
Ms Ong reported that Hoxha, of West Tofts Camp near Thetford, Norfolk, “pushed (the woman) down to the grass” near the river close to Norwich railway station and got on top of her and allegedly raped her.
The woman described, in a police video interview shown to jurors, that the area was “dark, it felt a bit sketchy”. She recounted how the man pulled her down and “he was a pretty big guy so I couldn’t really get him off”.
She expressed uncertainty about “if he could see there were people, but there were people’s voices from a distance so I think he got scared and got up and told me to put my shoes and trousers back on as at that point he had taken them off me”.
She revealed that at one point he spat at her. “I don’t know why he did it – I didn’t ask him to do it,” she stated. She added that it went near her mouth, saying: “It just felt inhumane.”
Ms Ong stated that Hoxha had instructed the woman to “put her shoes and trousers back on”, and was “saying things like ‘are we going to f*** at your house'”.
“He said ‘all of my friends have gone already, I need to come round your house’,” Ms Ong relayed. She mentioned that the woman told him “you’re not coming round my house”.
She added that the woman later spotted two people and “yelled help and ran towards them and managed to get the defendant’s arm off her”. After falling asleep and then speaking with her sister, she reported the incident to the police.
Ms Ong noted that CCTV footage was examined, but cameras do not cover the area where the alleged rape occurred. “The police officers traced the defendant to a barracks nearby and they went and arrested him,” Ms Ong explained.
“He was residing at the barracks and they arrested him and transported him to a police station where they interviewed him.”
Hoxha has entered a plea of not guilty to rape and to two counts of sexual assault. The trial, anticipated to last approximately five days, continues.
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