Teenage rapist faints as guilty verdict heard

4:37pm Monday 2nd September 2002

A TEENAGER collapsed in the dock at the Old Bailey as he was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl.

The 15-year-old, who was living in Woolwich at the time of the rape, had to be revived by the court matron after the jury returned their guilty verdict. The boy, who was only 14 at the time of the rape in January this year, was accused by the prosecution of acting out the lyrics of a song by controversial hip-hop star DMX.

"This is life imitating art," said Brian Reece, prosecuting. He said the boy and his friends had idolised DMX, quoting "If you got a daughter older than 15 I'm gonna rape her, take her on the living room floor right now," from one of DMX's songs.

The court heard how he had lured the girl with "flirty" text messages to a meeting. The boy turned up with two pals and they went to a flat in Woolwich where the boys dragged the girl into a bedroom and the 14-year-old had raped her.

Mr Reece said: "He told her, if she carried on protesting, he would bring the others in." When he had finished another boy came into the bedroom and the 14-year-old ordered her to have sex with his friend but she fled.

The boy, who now lives in Bexleyheath, was cleared of raping a second 13-year-old from Dartford, at a Thamesmead flat two weeks earlier.

Judge Brian Barker QC said he was "reluctantly" releasing the teenager on bail until sentencing on September 27. "The fact that I am granting bail should be absolutely no indication of what the future holds," he said.