Runner's Trial: Consent or Assault?

0:00On April 9th, a 26-year-old Somalian asylum-seeker and elite runner-name Abdenesir Elmi is on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting an an 18-year-old woman on a park bench in Bournemouth. He faces two counts from an incident around 10.30pm on April 22nd last year in Bournemouth Gardens. Elmi pleaded not guilty and told the court she kissed him first after inviting him to join her. Elmi explained he was out for a relaxing walk the night before a 10-kilometer cross-country race to loosen up his muscles. He's been training with Bournemouth Athletics Club since October, and boasts a 5-kilometer time under 15 minutes. The runner, who fled Somalia Civil War and now seeks asylum here, dreams of following in CERMO Ferris footsteps by winning major medals, he even trained with Ferra back home. The young woman had been out with friends and her boyfriend, but ended up alone at a bus stop when her ride couldn't take her. Elmi says her friend greeted him, then she asked him to wait and suggested they head to the park.

1:02He claims they sat close. She got a call from her boyfriend, then put her arm around him and kissed him, so he kissed back briefly over her clothes. Prosecutors painted a different picture, saying Elmi targeted her after her friends left, spotting her vulnerability. They point to CCTV footage of him wandering nearby and eyeing groups of young women earlier that night, suggesting he was on the prow for a non-consensual encounter. The trial at Winchester Crown Court rolls on with Elmi testifying through a Somali interpreter and both sides laying out their cases as jurors weigh the evidence.