Jurors wept in court today while being shown CCTV of an NHS worker allegedly being orally raped four times ‘until she died’ as she lay unconscious on a park bench.
Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, West London, a court heard.
Mohamed lidow, 35, is accused of orally raping her around midnight on July 16, 2021, the Old Bailey heard. He denies rape and manslaughter.
He was caught on CCTV with Ms Shotter, who was just five foot tall and weighed six and a half stone.
After around 15 minutes, Iidow got up and left the scene, on his way home he bought cat food and Listerine from a Shell garage.
The NHS worker was found dead by a passerby in Southall Park early the next morning.
The prosecution alleges that the repeated rape caused Ms Shotter to die of cardiac arrest. The CCTV from a camera in the park was shown to the jury and narrated by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.
A male member of the jury was in tears as the footage was shown and two female members of the jury turned their faces away from the footage.
Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, West London
Ms Shotter (pictured with her mother) measured little more than 5ft and weighed just over six and a half stone (43kg), jurors were told
Ms Shotter was found dead on a bench in Southall Park (pictured), west London, in July 2021
Members of Ms Shotter’s family, who sat in the well of the court, were also visibly upset.
Ms Morgan KC told the court: ‘At 23.41 her arm can be seen moving, swinging a little bit, she is lying down along the bench.
‘Natalie is lying down and there’s nothing to suggest a sudden falling down to the ground dead, or that she’s having a seizure.
‘Consuming alcohol and consuming poppers might make her lie down in that way, she must have been drowsy and semi-conscious.
‘The prosecution’s case is that even if she had consumed those substances, there was no reason for her to die before this point.
‘She may very well have been lying down on that bench thanks to what she consumed.
‘What was the defendant doing there? What was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night?
‘Seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape.’
The court heard Ms Shotter (pictured) was very vulnerable on the night of the attack
Jurors wept as they were shown CCTV footage of the alleged rape. Pictured: Southall Park
‘The one person who would have known whether Natalie Shotter was alive was this defendant,’ the prosecutor said.
‘He was raping her repeatedly, the prosecution’s case is not just rape it is also manslaughter, the prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her. She was not dead at the time.
‘He had sex with someone who was alive but who was deeply unconscious.’
In a police interview, he said Ms Shotter had offered him a ‘blow job’ for £10.
A toxicology report showed that Ms Shotter was over three times the legal driving limit, but that neither her alcohol nor poppers consumption were likely to have caused her to die.
Ms Morgan KC said: ‘That night out, and consuming what she did made her vulnerable, vulnerable to males, vulnerable to this defendant but it did not kill her.
NHS worker Natalie Shotter (pictured) was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, West London , jurors were told
Ms Morgan said Ms Shotter (far right) had been drinking and may have inhaled the legal high amyl nitrate – also known as poppers – but insisted these did not cause her death
‘By raping again and again [he] caused the cardiac arrest.’
The court was previously shown CCTV from earlier in the night which showed Ms Shotter walking through the streets and talking on her mobile.
At one point she stopped outside a shop to dance to the sound of a drum and was joined by a man and two other women.
Ms Morgan pointed out that Ms Shotter did not appear to be so drunk that she was unable to stand or struggling to walk, adding she looked ‘happy’.
Lidow, of St Paul’s Close, Hounslow, was first arrested on 4 August 2021 and charged on 21 December 2023.
The trial continues.
