Oritse Williams: Ex-JLS singer 'baffled by crazy rape claim'

Former JLS star Oritse Williams told police he was bewildered by a “crazy” rape allegation being made by a woman he met at a gig, a jury has heard.

The 32-year-old made the remark to interviewing officers after rejecting advice from his solicitor to answer no comment to questions put to him following his arrest.

A trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court has heard that Williams, of Croydon, south London, admits having consensual sex with the alleged victim at his hotel room in Wolverhampton, in December 2016.

On the fifth day of the trial, jurors heard that Williams, who denies rape, told police his tour manager, Jamien Nagadhana, was in a different bed in the same room when the encounter took place.

In police interviews read into the court record by a police officer and the Crown’s barristers, Williams told two detective constables that he found the complainant attractive, after meeting her and two of her friends at a nightclub.

The singer told the officers: “I thought she was a beautiful person in general – we had a vibe.

“She said (at the hotel) that she didn’t want to leave – she wants to stay with me.”

After elements of the alleged victim’s account were put to him, Williams told police: “C’mon, this is crazy.

“I am very perplexed, to be honest with you.

“I am feeling bewildered at this whole thing. I do feel taken advantage of. I just feel like a musician, an artist that has been put into a position where they have been taken advantage of.”

The court heard that Williams made the comments to police after his solicitor told officers his client was adamant that he wanted to speak to them.

In an interview carried out after Williams had been questioned, Nagadhana, also 32 and from Hounslow in west London, accepted his solicitor’s advice to decline to comment.

Nagadhana instead submitted a prepared statement to police, in which he said he had kissed the alleged victim and touched her, but had backed off when he realised she was “getting together” with Williams.

At the time of the alleged rape, Nagadhana, who denies sexual assault, was asleep in a different bed in the same room, his statement said.

The complainant told jurors last week that she had a “bits and pieces” memory of her night after drinking Malibu, sambuca and shots.

Giving evidence from behind a curtain shielding her from the public gallery, the woman told the jury panel: “The memories I do have, I know took place.”

The trial continues.