Ex-Spandau Ballet singer ‘told alleged rape victim I want unresponsive sex partner’

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges she woke up to Ross Davidson raping her in London in March 2015, which he denies.

She claims he attacked her while she was asleep in his bed and on Friday told Wood Green Crown Court that she felt “helpless”.

She went to the bathroom “just to get out of the situation”, she said, adding: “I just tried to compose myself and I was scared to react.

“I didn’t know what would happen if I reacted, I was quite quiet and dismissive over the situation and I just started to get ready to leave.”

Read more: Former Spandau Ballet frontman tried to rape woman then told her 'thanks for being cool about it'

Read more: Former Spandau Ballet frontman raped a woman and filmed himself groping another, court hears

Asked how he responded, she said: “Quite blase, I think he was happy for me to leave the situation.”

Davidson, 37, who used the stage name of Ross Wild, had starred in Queen-based West End musical We Will Rock You, and performed in 2018 as the singer for 80s favourites Spandau Ballet.

The Aberdeen-born musical theatre actor, aspiring songwriter and singer has also denied and is on trial for attempted rape and sexual assault against another woman, after he allegedly filmed himself groping her in Thailand in 2019.

Giving evidence on Friday, the alleged victim claimed that before allegedly assaulting her, Davidson, of Finchley, north London, had “mentioned he liked the idea of having sex with a mannequin, a person in a helpless state, someone not moving”.

Jurors also heard he put her in a sex collar and wrist cuffs for about 20 minutes without her permission.

This made her “confused” and put her in “a state of shock” but he removed them when she asked, she said.

The discussion about mannequins took place before the alleged sex attack, on an unspecified date, and she told the trial: “Initially he said model and I thought he meant attractive person.”

Prosecutor Richard Hearnden asked how she came to understand he meant a mannequin and she responded: “We talked about it. The conversation just went a bit deeper.

“He said still, lifeless, unresponsive.”

She understood that Davidson was referring to having sexual intercourse with someone who was asleep, the court heard.

Charlotte Newell KC, defending, said the conversation “obviously related to sexual practices, that was made quite clear”, later adding that it was about the person “pretending to be asleep” versus actually sleeping.

Asked how well she remembers the conversation, the woman said: “Not perfectly, I remember being confused about the term model and realising it’s the term mannequin.”

She also told the trial that he had never asked her to engage in those activities.

They met on a dating app and then in person twice – years apart – and had consensual sex on both occasions, including multiple times in the days before the alleged rape, she said.

Ms Newell said they did not have any sex when they saw each other in 2015 and that the defendant had made it clear he was no longer attracted to her.

The court heard she found Davidson’s demeanour “more assertive” compared with the first in-person meet-up.

She felt uncomfortable and made excuses to Davidson that she would leave a day earlier than planned, the court heard.

She allegedly woke up to find him raping her the following morning and left his property to go home “an hour or so later”.

Jurors were told the woman messaged him to say she had returned to her address but received no reply.

She told police that following the alleged rape: “I would get messages every so often from him that he was sort of promoting his band, what he was doing – they seemed kind of send-to-all messages.”

The jury has been told Davidson has pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism in December 2019 against the woman in Thailand.