Man cleared of sex attack in hotel room

Seun Adebanjo, aged 30, of Kellner Grove, Oldbury, had denied sexually assaulting the woman in November last year. And at the end of the three-day trial, a jury at Warwick Crown Court took just an hour and 40 minutes to find him not guilty. During the trial, the woman said she had met Adebanjo, who she knew as Sam, on a dating website, and after some time they were 'getting on fine' and exchanged phone numbers.

When they finally met face to face, they went for a drink together at a pub in Dudley and then to a club in Stourbridge.

"We got on really well. He seemed nice and we had a good time. I saw him again. He came to my house and we watched some telly. We ended up kissing, etc, and he wanted to have sex with me, but I said I wasn't ready. He was happy with that."

But she said that later in the month he picked her up and they then picked up a friend of his in Birmingham before going to Coventry where they visited another friend, then went to a club.

"The plan was we were meant to go back to Birmingham and then to go to his house, but he said he was too drunk to drive."

She said Adebanjo told her he needed to go to his friend's home for a nap before driving back, but instead they ended up at the Travelodge hotel in Binley, Coventry, where he already had a room key.

"I said 'why are we here?' and he said because his friend wasn't at home. He said we were going to stay for a couple of hours and then go back to Birmingham."

She agreed she went to the room with him, but said: "It was either that or staying in the car. There were two single beds, so I put my bag down and was going to lie on the one closest to the bathroom. I don't really know what happened then. I don't know how I ended up on the second bed.

"Sam was lying on top of me. I was trying to push him away, but he was holding my hands above my head. I told him 'Just stop, I'm not ready yet.'"

She said she tried to reach for her phone, but that he took it from her and threw it across the room, and she did not know what happened after that, but she thought she fell asleep. When she got up and went to the bathroom she found her knickers were on back-to-front.

Adebanjo took her home, and when they later exchanged texts in which she asked if he had worn a condom and he said he had, she made a formal complaint.

Prosecutor Peter Grice said that although a medical examination showed no evidence of penetration, his DNA was found on her underwear. But Adebanjo said that there had been mutual consensual touching and kissing. Questioned by Mr Grice, Adebanjo said: "I swear to God I never held her hands down. I would never do that."

He added that nothing had happened that evening to upset her.