Portsmouth man found guilty of 'rough' street rape on woman left feeling 'sick'

Samuel Belstone, 29, of Copnor Road, was found guilty of two counts of rape on a 22-year-old woman who was throttled during the ordeal.

It happened in North End between 3am and 6am on October 9.

Jurors at Portsmouth Crown Court took less than two hours to return guilty verdicts against Belstone.

The court heard how the female remembered waking to find Belstone ‘on top of me’.

The victim said she was unsure how she ended up on a street with her ‘top and bra pulled down’ after enjoying a night at Astoria nightclub in Guildhall Walk.

The woman, who remembered lying on gravel, said: ‘My legs were up in the air in a really awkward position. He was being really rough. I think he was holding them. I didn’t have anywhere to go.

‘He forced himself inside me.’

In a desperate attempt to bring the ordeal to a swift end, the victim said: ‘I closed my eyes and was saying, “keep doing it”. I made out I was enjoying it so it would be over quicker.’

She added: ‘I just laid there. I didn’t want to get hit and just let him do what he wanted to do.’

The victim added: ‘I remembered hitting my head.’

The female had drunk several dark fruit ciders and some sambuca shots during a night out that had started at Wetherspoons.

She told the court the incident was ‘almost like I fell asleep’ and she had ‘flashes of things that happened’.

The woman ended up outside her house but had lost her keys and a neighbour came to her rescue. ‘I didn’t remember walking home. I remember being outside my house and trying to get in,’ she said.

The victim said she was ‘really drunk’ but had not consumed any more than on a usual night out and had ‘not blanked out’ in such a way before.

SEE ALSO: Pompey thug avoids jail

A pre-sentence report will be put together on Belstone.

The judge, Recorder Elisabeth Bussey-Jones, said: ‘These are very serious offences. I need to know everything I can about you.’

The rapist was remanded in custody and will now be sentenced on May 9.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.