A twisted girlfriend smiled and watched as her boyfriend pinned down and callously raped a terrified young woman who was used as a "rag doll.". Anthony Preston, 22, and his fiancee, Nicole Rickatson, 27, from Hull, were involved in a "threesome" with the victim when they "sexually abused" her without her consent and they "encouraged and assisted each other" in sexual acts, Hull Crown Court heard. They each denied three offences of rape, three offences of assault by penetration and one offence of perverting the course of justice. They were each convicted after a trial of one offence of rape and Preston was convicted of perverting the course of justice.
Richard Butters, prosecuting, said: "They did what they wanted. They helped themselves to her. They treated her, in effect, like a rag doll, sexually abusing her." Preston and Rickatson previously said: "Let's have a threesome" but the woman, thought that it was a joke. "Preston started to grab at her," said Mr Butters. He pulled her hair and immediately she was saying she didn't want to do this. She was saying that from the outset. This pair knew that what they were doing was against her will.", Hull Live reported.
The young woman was "all the while fighting back" against the couple. "She was trying to stop this sexual attack – and that's what it was," said Mr Butters. "This was a horrific sexual attack on her. She was trying to fight back and struggled to prevent this from happening but Preston kept on pushing her down. He was making sure she couldn't move.". During the sexual acts, the woman said: "No, please don't." It was claimed that she was forced to commit sexual acts on both Preston and Rickatson. She was saying 'Stop' – she didn't want to do any of this – but the male defendant kept on doing what he was doing," said Mr Butters. "Rickatson was present at the time. They just didn't seem to care. That's how she described it in her evidence.".
There was blood on the bed. "Throughout this abuse, she couldn't move because one or other of them was holding her down," said Mr Butters. "All the time, Rickatson was in the bedroom encouraging this abuse. "This pair knew full well throughout this sexual attack that she did not want to be involved in any way. She was saying 'No'. By saying 'No', that just made things worse because the abuse just continued.
"She remembered Preston saying to her that she was a 'good girl'. She described that, throughout this abuse, when she was saying 'No', both defendants, Preston and Rickatson, were both laughing and that's a theme throughout this incident. Both defendants knew that she was not consenting to any of these acts but both abused her directly or encouraged the other to do the same. Both defendants told her that they were having fun and she remembers that, when she was being raped by Preston, Rickatson was at her side smiling.
"Preston was asking her to stay over. She was saying 'No'. That seemed to enrage Preston and it was at that point that he forced himself upon her, raping her, and the female defendant was just smiling in the bedroom. Preston was telling her to stop moving and she remembers how Preston was so persistent that he would just not get off. She said 'Please don't' during this whole incident. "She remembers Preston saying all the time: 'Just keep still' and she remembers her mouth being covered by him while he raped her. During the course of this, her breathing was quite rapid and she was having a panic attack – and one can understand why.".
The young woman later quickly got dressed and ran downstairs before phoning a male friend. The matter was reported to the police straight away. The woman suffered nasty scratch marks all the way down her back. "She felt numb," said Mr Butters. When police went round to the couple's home, they saw that there was blood on the bed but, when they returned the next day, "lo and behold, all that bedding had gone" from the bedroom.
"They were trying to get rid of the evidence," said Mr Butters. "The bed was cleared of all bedding from the night before. They removed evidence, namely bedding, from the investigation scene." Preston and Rickatson both declined to give defence evidence to the trial but they claimed that the sexual activity was consensual. Mr Butters told the jury: "These two want you to believe that they had a thoroughly enjoyable threesome. They have abused her terribly.
She felt as though she was being used as a toy, being used for their own sexual exploits and desires. "These two have not come out of the dock to give you their case. Would you want to just sit there, hide away and say nothing? They know that during the course of their interviews, they have lied. They have lied and lied again.". David Godfrey, representing Preston, claimed that the young woman's account was "packed with questions and with doubt" and that there was nothing stopping her from "getting up and going out". There had previously been "banter" about a "threesome" between them.
