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Tory aide raped woman in MP's office in parliament, court hears Tory aide raped woman in MP's office in parliament, court hears
(about 4 hours later)
An MP’s chief of staff raped an intern working for him in the Houses of Parliament after a night of drinking, a court has heard. Samuel Armstrong was accused of attacking the woman in the office of their boss, the Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, last year. An MP’s chief of staff raped a woman in the Houses of Parliament after a night of drinking, a court has heard. Samuel Armstrong was accused of attacking the woman in the office of his boss, the Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, last year.
The jury heard Armstrong recruited the woman and later used his position of power over her. After the attack, the court was told, she fled through the Palace of Westminster, before asking a cleaner to call the police for her. The jury heard that after the attack, the woman fled through the Palace of Westminster, before asking a cleaner to call the police.
“On a night in the autumn of last year, this defendant abused his position – his position as someone newly in charge of other people. And, after an evening drinking at his workplace with others – including a young office intern whom he had recently interviewed and recruited, he took her back to the office of their employer after hours and, once there and alone, took advantage of her,”Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said. During cross-examination, the woman denied the defence’s suggestion that she had consented to having sex with the aide, then changed her mind.
Opening the prosecution’s case, he added: “The essence of it is that he raped her, both vaginally and orally. And, in doing so, we suggest, he abused his role and his position.” “On a night in the autumn of last year, this defendant abused his position – his position as someone newly in charge of other people. And, after an evening drinking at his workplace... [he] took advantage of her,” Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said.
Armstrong was charged with two counts of sexual assault and two of rape. “Each of those charges reflects things that happened to her – that he did to her,” Heywood said.Armstrong was charged with two counts of sexual assault and two of rape. “Each of those charges reflects things that happened to her – that he did to her,” Heywood said.
The jury was played a recording of a police interview with the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in which she described the attack.The jury was played a recording of a police interview with the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in which she described the attack.
In the recording, she told an officer she froze after Armstrong started to kiss her. She said she explicitly declined an invitation to go back to Armstrong’s flat but he undressed her and raped her. She told an officer she froze after Armstrong started to kiss her. She said she explicitly declined an invitation to go back to Armstrong’s flat but he undressed her and raped and sexually assaulted her.
She said he told her: “This is what you want”, which made her feel there was an “inevitability” that they would have sex, despite her not wanting to.She said he told her: “This is what you want”, which made her feel there was an “inevitability” that they would have sex, despite her not wanting to.
The prosecutor said Armstrong, who is now 24, originally started working for the Conservative party as a volunteer activist and moved to Mackinlay’s office after the MP’s election in 2015. He later became his chief of staff and was responsible for interviewing and overseeing the process of her appointment as an unpaid intern. The court heard the pair had been drinking in the Sports and Social bar, within the Houses of Parliament, and, at one point in the night, Armstrong took her to the roof garden terrace so she could hear Big Ben chime. Later, the court heard that they went with two other people to the Lords’ offices, before Armstrong and the woman headed alone to Mackinlay’s office.
The court heard that the pair had been drinking in the Sports and Social bar, within the Houses of Parliament, and, at one point in the night, Armstrong took her to the roof garden terrace so she could hear Big Ben chime. Later, the court heard that they went with two other people to the Lords’ offices, before Armstrong and the woman headed alone to Mackinlay’s office; ostensibly, the prosecutor said, so she could pick up some of her belongings.
CCTV footage shown to the jury showed them in Westminster Hall and, the prosecution said: “It is obvious that the mood between them was light-hearted and playful.”CCTV footage shown to the jury showed them in Westminster Hall and, the prosecution said: “It is obvious that the mood between them was light-hearted and playful.”
After they went to the MP’s office, the jury heard that the woman fell asleep. “That is where it began to go wrong,” Heywood said. “The defendant took gross advantage of the situation and of her obvious and open friendliness towards him.” Once inside Mackinlay’s office, “it began to go wrong,” Heywood said. “The defendant took gross advantage of the situation and of her obvious and open friendliness towards him.”
Armstrong became insistent and determined, the prosecutor continued. “As he knew perfectly well, he had her a very distinct disadvantage. His manner was now changed. He repeatedly called her a ‘bitch’.”Armstrong became insistent and determined, the prosecutor continued. “As he knew perfectly well, he had her a very distinct disadvantage. His manner was now changed. He repeatedly called her a ‘bitch’.”
CCTV footage from later in the evening was also shown to the jury and the prosecution said it showed her “moving in an agitated way, neither relaxed nor at all happy … her steps are purposeful; she looks around herself and behind her at times and her step breaks into a little run from time to time”. CCTV footage from later in the evening was also shown to the jury and the prosecution said it showed the woman “moving in an agitated way, neither relaxed nor at all happy … her steps are purposeful; she looks around herself and behind her at times and her step breaks into a little run from time to time”.
Armstrong denies the charges. The trial continues. Questioned later in the proceedings by Sarah Forshaw QC, acting for the defence, the woman denied having begun to find Armstrong attractive as a result of being “disinhibited by drink” and having a “fascination with parliament”.
She agreed he had been “sweet” towards her in the time they had known each other, but denied that her distress that night was due to her having got lost in the parliament buildings after leaving Mackinlay’s office. “I couldn’t find a way out and I was, absolutely, crying - because a man had forced himself upon me,” she told the jury.
Forshaw suggested the sex between the pair had been consensual. “[It is] 2am and you can’t find a way out and you get more and more anxious and you have been with Samuel Armstrong until 2am - you have got to go home and you have told your boyfriend you wouldn’t be out late.
“I am going to suggest to you that that is when you decided that you had not wanted what had happened in the office,” she said. The woman denied the suggestion. Armstrong denies the charges. The trial continues.