Alleged rape victim discussed buying a "holiday of a lifetime" with compensation money

Monday 26 February 2018

A woman who claims she was sexually abused when she was a child, has admitted to discussing using the compensation money on personal training sessions, a holiday of a lifetime and a smart car, during a trial at the Royal Court.

49-year-old Antony John Quant denies 23 counts of abuse, including 10 counts of indecent assault, eight counts of rape and five counts of sodomy, on two girls and a boy between the 1970’s and 1980’s.

While giving evidence in the Royal Court on Friday, one of the women who claims Mr Quant raped her between 50 and 70 times over a seven-year period during the 1980's, said she didn’t tell anyone at the time because: “I was ashamed, I was scared, I was young.”

She told the jury of seven women and five men that the alleged sexual assaults left her with “a lot of emotional issues” which she started therapy for in 1992, when she made a formal complaint about the abuse to the police - but the news of the case collapsing in 1993 left her with depression and she had a nervous breakdown. She told the court she used therapy, and still needs it to this day “to find peace.”

Along with the therapy sessions, the woman admitted to using illegal drugs and that she had an addiction to prescribed medication, as she used them to escape from the effects of the abuse.

During cross examination by Advocate Sue Pearmain, who is defending Mr Quant, the jury heard that the woman had texted friends, family and colleagues about the case being re-opened in 2016. When asked why, the woman said: “I was elated, I could never get over the fact that I thought I did what I needed to do when I went to the police. When I was told there was no further action, I never got over that.

“These are my friends who I’ve known for a very long time who know this is very important to me… I’ve never discussed the detail with anybody. All they knew is that I was abused as a child and that it had gone to court” she added.

Pictured: Antony Quant is on trial at the Royal Court this week for 23 counts of sexual abuse on three children. 

The defence accused the woman of using text messages to also share details of her evidence with other witnesses, claiming that she was doing that so; “the more likely the prosecution will be successful” and that she had approached them to “get similarities.”

Advocate Pearmain also accused the woman of being motivated by a compensation award, as she had sent friends text and social media messages to find out about compensation claims, with one telling the recipient that their conversation can't be mentioned in court.  The Jury heard the witness read out the messages she had sent, describing how she would use the money on personal training sessions, a holiday of a lifetime and possibly a car.

The woman told the Jury that she was a “day-dreamer” and she wanted to take her kids on holiday as “it’s not just me that’s suffered from the abuse – they’ve seen me in tears, too many personality changes. It’s good for them to have something nice.”

When Advocate Pearmain warned the woman that she wouldn’t receive compensation, she replied; “it doesn’t matter to me, what matters to me is justice.”

The second day of the trial also heard from a school friend of the woman. One witness confirmed that she would go to the shop with the woman when they were young because the woman “went to the shop to get sweets and chocolate.” This is how the woman - and the other two people who have accused Mr Quant of sexually abusing them - claims he groomed them. The witness told the Jury that the woman would ask her to meet the defendant with her to give him the sweets and chocolate.

Another teenage friend of the woman told the jury that the woman had told her "that he had done sexual things to her" describing her as very upset when she spoke of the allegations. She told the court that she regrets not taking any action following the conversation.

A former boyfriend of the woman was also called to the witness stand. He told the court that she told him about the alleged indecent assaults and rape, and he was the one who encouraged her to go to the police in 1992.   

The trial continues today and is set to last seven days.