'Very drunk' Southampton student forced man to have sex with her, court heard

Imogen Brooke wouldn't take no for an answer, a court was told.

The "very drunk" 30-year-old allegedly ignored the protests of the man which were going "in one ear and out the other".

After 15 minutes she rolled over and went straight to sleep, leaving the "violated" man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - lying in bed in disbelief, the court was told.

Jurors at Southampton Crown Court heard Miss Brooke, of Kent St, St Mary's, was "bigger" than him and it was a "misconception" that the victims of sexual offences are always female.

Read more: Student 'looked like she strangled man' from love bite on his neck, court heard

Prosecutor Robert Bryan told the court: "Imogen Brooke caused [the complainant] to engage in the sexual activity... and he did not consent, and she did not reasonably believe him to be consenting.

"In the public image, a sexual offender is male and the victim of a sexual offence is female. That is a misconception. Misconceptions are exactly that – they are wrongly held views.

"This court, in due course, may use a different word, that word being stereotype; a widely-held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing."

He added: "Stereotypes have no place in criminal court. This case must be tried on criminal evidence and not on stereotypes.

"Physical arousal is wholly separate to consent. The two might run in tandem but might run on separate tracks."

Imogen Brooke outside Southampton Crown Court. Picture: Solent News and Photo Agency (Image: Solent News and Photo Agency)

The court heard the two had met on an online dating website and that Miss Brooke was a "lot bigger and stronger" than her alleged victim.

The jury was told the alleged attack happened at her home in Southampton.

Mr Bryan continued: "After some drinks they went up to bed, where what he wanted was to go to sleep. Miss Brooke wanted to have sex, and was pulling his arm, eventually pulling him onto his back."

The court heard Miss Brooke climbed on top of him leaving the alleged victim unable to move due to her size.

Mr Bryan told the court Miss Brooke denied the charge as she is "conscious of her weight" and would never adopt that position.

She also doesn't remember the incident happening.

Mr Bryan added: "Consent appears in the charge but it may well be a red herring, because he is adamant that not only did she have sexual activity without his consent, but he is adamant that she was on top.

"Miss Brooke's case is that would not, could not and did not happen."

Mr Bryan described the complainant as "unsophisticated" and "naive" in sexual matters, before his interview with the police was played to the jury.

In it, the complainant said: "She's quite a lot bigger and stronger than me and I just couldn't do anything about it.

"I can't move her when she's on top because she's a lot heavier than me. She's about twice my body weight - so I can't move.

"I wanted it to end. I just gave up because she wasn't going to listen to me. I said what I said but it was going in one ear and out the other.

"It felt like it went on for ages but probably no longer than 15 minutes. It felt like a really long time - never ending.

"I felt violated. I couldn't believe it happened.

"The following day she had no memory of what had happened.

"She noticed that I was distant with her but she didn't know why. She made me feel sorry that I had let it happen in that way. It felt like a punch in the face."

Miss Brooke denies one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

The case continues.

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