Alleged rape victim of Albrighton actor Alexander Westwood reduced to tears on stand

A woman was reduced to tears as she relived 'the hell' of being with alleged rapist actor Alexander Westwood.

The young woman, who was one of the former BBC Doctors actor's drama pupils, told Wolverhampton Crown Court she was raped, sexually abused and violently assaulted by him.

Alexander Westwood, of Holyhead Road, Albrighton, is charged with a raft of sexual crimes against two children, a boy and a girl, and pupils in his acting class.

The woman giving evidence was one of his alleged victims, the court was told.

The jury of five women and seven men watched police interviews of her describing being with Westwood and then she gave evidence in person behind a curtain. After nearly an hour of cross examination by Westwood's lawyer James Bloomer she left the stand in tears.

She said: "I did not realise it at the time but I was a victim of domestic abuse. He would get very angry and hold me down by my wrists, I would have to bite him just to get away from him.

"He would ask me for sex and when I said no would carry on. I would tell him I did not want to because I was not happy, but he would just ignore me."

She added: "He would get angry and throw things. He would regularly pin me down by my wrists so I could not move. I would have to bite him to get him off me. He would lie, lie and lie. He told my mother I needed to be in a psychiatric hospital."

The court heard allegations of Westwood’s controlling behaviour with those that he had sexual relationships with.

In her evidence, the woman said: "He phoned the police on me, and lied to them. I then saw on my CCTV in my house that he stole my cameras, which made me feel vulnerable."

She added: "He raped me. I have had normal relationships since, I suffer with anxiety and have been treated for my mental health but I never have been so volatile as when I was with him,"

Westwood is charged with 26 sexual crimes, including rape, against two children, a boy and a girl, and pupils in his acting class. He is also accused of forcing his teenage acting pupils to recite Shakespeare naked and engage in naked role-play scenarios. The court earlier heard that, due to the number of charges, the trial is expected to last more than a month.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace has told the jury: "Alexander Westwood is an actor. He is a supreme manipulator. All these charges have a common theme, of inappropriate touching and predatory behaviour. 

Westwood denies all charges.