Musician Slowthai tells jury that rape accusations against him are “not true”

Grammy-nominated rapper Slowthai has refuted allegations that he and a friend raped two women at a house party after a concert, describing the claims as “simply false.”

The musician, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, 29, and his co-accused Alex Blake-Walker, 27, are on trial at Oxford Crown Court where they deny three joint charges of rape and one of sexual assault against two women.

Jurors have been told how Frampton had performed at The Bullingdon music venue in Oxford on the night of September 7, 2021.

After the concert, the two complainants went to Frampton’s tour bus before heading to their friend’s house for a party, with Frampton and Blake-Walker joining the group.

Frampton, Blake-Walker and the two complainants climbed onto the roof of the property, where the rapes are alleged to have taken place.

Prosecutors allege that Blake-Walker raped the first complainant while encouraged by Frampton, and that Frampton raped the second complainant twice while encouraged by Blake-Walker.

The pair are said to have sexually assaulted the woman whom Frampton allegedly raped.

Giving evidence to the court, Frampton denied encouraging Blake-Walker to rape the first complainant, telling the jury: “What was happening between the two of them had nothing to do with me.”

He agreed that sexual activity had taken place between him and the second complainant, but insisted that she had given consent.

Mr Frampton said: “I know she gave her consent, there was no question.

“The energy she was giving me was not that of someone who was not giving consent. She was looking into my eyes.

“She was the one who initiated oral sex. “If there was a time when she didn’t want to give me oral sex, I would have stopped because she was the one who initiated oral sex.”

He accepted that he and Blake-Walker had “fist bumped” at the time, but denied that this was mutual encouragement.

“We were both excited about what was happening,” Frampton said.

Frampton was asked about the allegation that he raped the complainant a second time, pushing her against a wall and then the floor.

He responded: “It was 50/50. We laughed, we smiled, we looked into each other’s eyes. “It’s just not true.”

Under cross-examination by Heather Stangoe, prosecuting, Frampton disputed the allegations the complainants had made against him and Blake-Walker.

Mrs Stangoe asked: “Are these girls lying?”

Frampton replied: “Yes.”

He denied that he and Blake-Walker had talked about the exchange, or that Blake-Walker had asked him if he could “have a turn” and that he had responded “later.”

The court heard Frampton left the roof after hearing a noise coming from a window. He said he intended to stay, but was “kicked out” of the property.

Mrs Stangoe asked: “You are sexually predatory, aren’t you?”

Frampton replied: “No.”

Mrs Stangoe continued: “You didn’t care. “You went to that house with a purpose.”

Frampton said: “I went to have a good time and have fun. Having fun is having fun. There are several ways to have fun.

“When we were on the roof, we were all having fun. “There wasn’t any element that felt like it wasn’t fun.”

The incident was reported to police after Frampton and Blake-Walker left the property, and the two complainants later made video statements to police.

Frampton described being arrested, interviewed and then speaking with his then-partner.

“I explained to him that I had cheated and that I had been accused of raping the person I had cheated with,” he told the jury.

He spoke of being “very stressed” in police custody and said he had not slept much.

“I couldn’t believe what had happened, that these accusations were made against me,” he said.

“I was thinking about the fact that I had cheated on my partner and my son.”

The court heard that a backlog of cases was behind the delay between the musician’s arrest and indictment, which occurred when Frampton was in New York for a magazine photo shoot.

Frampton, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, and Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south-east London, deny three joint charges of rape and one of sexual assault against two women.

The trial continues.