In a prepared statement he gave to police in January 2024 following his arrest, which was read to jurors, Zou said: “Firstly, I wish to say that reference has been made to pictures retrieved from my mobile phones however I have not seen these and I do not recall when and where I took them.
Wearing a navy suit and tie, Zou told jurors he came into contact with cocaine, ecstasy tablets and ketamine from parties and going to nightclubs in London where he was studying at University College London (UCL).
Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Zou said he used the substance in nightclubs “to get high”, adding he had not mentioned this in his statement to police because he did not want to be “considered a drug user”.
Zou denies 11 counts of rape as well as three counts of voyeurism, 12 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and eight of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.
A Chinese PhD student who is accused of drugging and raping 10 women told police he was “in the habit” of taking consensual pictures of his sexual activity, a trial has heard.
