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23 Apr, 2025
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Woman woke to find she was being raped by man accused of attacking two other women, court hears
@Source: walesonline.co.uk
A Carmarthenshire man accused of raping three women over a 20-year period has gone on trial. Daniel Gravelle, 43, of Porth Y Plas, Johnstown, is accused of carrying out rapes in 2002, 2005 and 2022 - he denies all three charges. In his opening statement at Swansea Crown Court Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said two of the incidents happened when the alleged victims were "hopelessly and helplessly" intoxicated. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here . In 2002, the first alleged victim went to her friend's party. The jury heard Gravelle made the woman two cocktails and she had been planning to go to a venue in Carmarthen . By the time she arrived at the venue she felt so unwell and unsteady on her feet she was given a lift back to her friend's house in a friend's car. When she got back to the house she was sick and her friend helped her and put her to bed while the house party continued. The jury heard that at about 4.15am the woman became aware of pressure on her chest. She turned to look and found the defendant on top of her. She told him to get off her but had no strength. The prosecutor said the defendant told her it was 'ok' and claimed to be her ex-boyfriend. The prosecution said he then returned to the party. A while after the incident the defendant boasted to a mutual friend that he had "dialed" the woman, laughing as he said it. The second charge was from 2005. Another woman was out with her friends when she started talking to Gravelle outside a pub near a rugby club. Gravelle proceeded to pull her arm and pulled her into a secluded area. The jury heard he pushed her head down to avoid being seen through a window of the rugby club. The most recent accusation was from February 5, 2022. The final woman Gravelle is accused of raping had been on a night out with her sister when she went to bars in Carmarthen but was unable to remember anything after arriving at the second venue. The jury heard she woke up alone in her bed, she had been sick and felt very unwell. Mr Cobbe told the jury she hadn't felt right "down there" and became aware of a burning sensation so arranged to take the morning after pill. When she went downstairs there were beer cans and white powder that she didn't recognise. In one of two videos played to the jury, she said: "I felt ashamed that I didn't know what had happened." The prosecutor said: "Her condition speaks for itself and she wasn't able to consent." The jury heard that when Gravelle was arrested he said he met the woman at the bar and they had sex but it had been consensual. The jury was played two videos of the most recent victim speaking to police officers after the incident. They were also shown 11 items of CCTV and phone video footage from the night. The footage showed the victim arriving at a bar and then dancing with Gravelle, before it showed them arriving at a nightclub, dancing and kissing. The footage then showed them leaving and getting into a taxi together. The trial continues.
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