News / International
Zimbabwe students cleared of UK rape
18 Nov 2012 at 16:05hrs | Views
TWO Zimbabwean students have been cleared of raping two teenage girls in Chester, England.
Simbarashe Makondore, of Raymond Street, Chester, and Sipho Siyamufinya, of Great Houghton Road, Bradford, said they forgave their 15-year-old accusers after a trial lasting a week at the Chester Crown Court.
Makondore and Siyamufinya, both 22, knelt in silent prayer following their acquittal.
"We forgive the girls for what they have put us through," said Makondore.
Siyamufinya said they wanted to "forgive and forget".
Their trial heard how on October 22 last year, the two teenagers were in Brook Street when they met Makondore and Siyamufinya before exchanging numbers and agreeing to meet them later that night for a "gathering" at a student house in Cheyney Road.
But when they went to the flat, the girls - who were both 15-years-old but told Makondore and Siyamufinya they were 16 - claimed they were taken into separate bedrooms by the men before being sexually assaulted and raped.
The men swapped over in the dark and raped them again, it was alleged.
Defending Makondore, Gareth Roberts said his client had consensual sex with one of the girls before doing something else with her friend.
"He cannot say that he did not have sex with them because he did," said Roberts said.
The two girls had lied about their ages so the men would like them and be interested in them, the lawyer said.
"But he cannot think of any reason why they are crying rape."
And defending Siyamufinya, Owen Edwards described how his client was an ambitious young man, who had moved from Zimbabwe to the UK to join his parents when he was 17 years old before advancing himself in further education.
He had been visiting his friend Makondore for the half-term break when they met the two girls.
During the trial, the two Zimbabweans described how they had got on with the girls, who they had only met that day, and the teenagers had exchanged numerous texts, talking about staying the night before having sex with the men.
Later that night, both of the teenagers hid in the bathroom crying, before reporting the men to the police for rape.
It took just over seven hours for the jury to find Makondore not guilty of two counts of raping a girl under 16 and one count of sexual assault on a female, and Siyamufinya not guilty of three counts of rape of a girl under 16.
Simbarashe Makondore, of Raymond Street, Chester, and Sipho Siyamufinya, of Great Houghton Road, Bradford, said they forgave their 15-year-old accusers after a trial lasting a week at the Chester Crown Court.
Makondore and Siyamufinya, both 22, knelt in silent prayer following their acquittal.
"We forgive the girls for what they have put us through," said Makondore.
Siyamufinya said they wanted to "forgive and forget".
Their trial heard how on October 22 last year, the two teenagers were in Brook Street when they met Makondore and Siyamufinya before exchanging numbers and agreeing to meet them later that night for a "gathering" at a student house in Cheyney Road.
But when they went to the flat, the girls - who were both 15-years-old but told Makondore and Siyamufinya they were 16 - claimed they were taken into separate bedrooms by the men before being sexually assaulted and raped.
The men swapped over in the dark and raped them again, it was alleged.
"He cannot say that he did not have sex with them because he did," said Roberts said.
The two girls had lied about their ages so the men would like them and be interested in them, the lawyer said.
"But he cannot think of any reason why they are crying rape."
And defending Siyamufinya, Owen Edwards described how his client was an ambitious young man, who had moved from Zimbabwe to the UK to join his parents when he was 17 years old before advancing himself in further education.
He had been visiting his friend Makondore for the half-term break when they met the two girls.
During the trial, the two Zimbabweans described how they had got on with the girls, who they had only met that day, and the teenagers had exchanged numerous texts, talking about staying the night before having sex with the men.
Later that night, both of the teenagers hid in the bathroom crying, before reporting the men to the police for rape.
It took just over seven hours for the jury to find Makondore not guilty of two counts of raping a girl under 16 and one count of sexual assault on a female, and Siyamufinya not guilty of three counts of rape of a girl under 16.
Source - chesterchronicle.co.uk
