Woman ‘suffered heart attack after she was raped by stranger on a bench’

A woman died from a heart attack after she was orally raped by a stranger who had been ‘seeking out a vulnerable woman’, a court heard.

Natalie Shotter, 37, had been enjoying a night out before she was raped and murdered while passed out on a park bench in Southall Park, west London,jurors were told.

Mohamed Iidow, 35, is charged with rape and manslaughter.

Opening the trial, Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told jurors on Friday that Ms Shotter had died of a heart attack which was caused by Iidow raping her ‘again and again’.

The court was shown CCTV footage of Ms Shotter sitting on a bench with another man when, the prosecution say, the defendant walked past and looked at them shortly before the alleged attack.

The court heard that Iidow then left the park, drove away in his car, then returned.

Ms Shotter was lying down, showing ‘no clear movement’ for around half-an-hour before the defendant approached her ‘nonchalantly’, Ms Morgan said.

During the alleged attack, the victim had been ‘deeply unconscious’, she said.

‘What was the defendant doing there, what was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night and thinking about what his objectives must have been – seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape,’ she added.

Jurors were then shown CCTV in which the prosecution said the defendant could be seen moving Ms Shotter’s body around in different positions as he raped her.

Ms Morgan said: ‘The prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her by this defendant.’

‘She was not dead at the time when the defendant was orally raping her, it will be a matter for you to consider – that this defendant went to the park for a reason.’

‘He would not have sought to have sex with a dead body for over 15 minutes, he was having sex with someone he knew was alive but was deeply unconscious and therefore he was raping her.’

Ms Shotter was found dead by a passer-by in the park onJuly 17 2021 in the early morning, the court heard previously.

Jurors were told that after the alleged attack, the defendant drove back to his home in Hounslow, west London, via a Shell garage where he stopped to buy cat food and mouthwash.

Swabs taken from Ms Shotter’s mouth matched DNA samples taken from the defendant, jurors were told.

Iidow has denied the charges against him. The trial was adjourned until Monday.

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