A student studying at one of Britain’s most prestigious drama schools is accused of raping a woman and sending her a text message after warning: ‘If you say anything I’ll kill myself.’
Jack Green, 19, allegedly forced himself on the 19-year-old woman at his student flat after a drunken night out to celebrate freshers week at Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, whose former students include Coronation Street’s Cherrylee Houston and Zoe Lucker of EastEnders fame.
Mr Green – who had a girlfriend back home – is accused of gripping the woman by the neck, pinning her down on the bed and biting her lip before telling her: ‘Shh don’t worry.’
Jack Green, pictured, is accused of raping a woman during freshers week at Arden School of Theatre in Manchester
The woman later text him, saying: ‘I didn’t want to do it – I said “no” a million times.’
Mr Green allegedly replied: ‘Just forget about it, it’s done, it’s in the past, leave it. I’d go to jail, I’d rather die. I’m going to jump.’
He was arrested shortly afterwards when the woman confided in a friend back at her student accommodation and denies rape.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Manchester Crown Court: ‘It was a terrifying experience. My friend was convincing me I needed to tell someone but I was concerned as I didn’t want to mess up his career.
‘I told my friend what happened and she said: “It’s very serious – you need to speak to someone.”
‘I was just too upset to call the police. I was scared – I was in a state of shock. He was forceful. I did tell him to stop but it was hard to speak when he had bitten my lip.
‘He gripped my neck at one stage. I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to have sexual intercourse with him but he didn’t stop.’
The school counts stars from Coronation Street, EastEnders, The Bill and Hollyoaks among its former students
The night out occurred on September 14 2016 after Green enrolled on a musical theatre course at the school, whose former students include The Bill’s Kim Tiddy and Coronation Street’s Tracy Shaw.
He and other students met the woman before going out and they all drank vodka together before going to the club Fifth Avenue club in the city centre.
The woman told the jury: ‘We drank vodka and then had about three more drinks at the club.
‘I was tipsy and Jack was drunk as well. We danced together as a group. Jack told me he had seen a girl on the same course and told me he thought she was really good looking.
‘I said you already have a girlfriend but he was persistently trying to get off with her and I was saying stop because she didn’t want to.
‘He kissed me and I pushed him away after about a second.’
It is alleged Mr Green locked her in his room when the group went back for food and the pair were left alone.
Mr Green allegedly trapped the woman in his room, grabbed her neck and raped her while telling her to ‘shut up’
In a statement to police the woman said: ‘I was about six out of 10 in terms of how drunk I was and he might have been a little bit more drunk.
‘I said “get off me stop” and was pushing him on the chest – but he just said “shh” and carried on.
‘I was crying and I had my hand over his mouth because I didn’t want to kiss him. But he said “shh don’t worry” and was being quite forceful.
‘He pushed me on to the bed and was kissing me, I was saying no but it didn’t have any impact. I was properly crying and I could see his face.
‘He took his trousers off and then took mine off. He still stood really close to me and I was still sat down.
‘I was lay there crying I was in shock I didn’t know what to do. Eventually I was like “right stop, don’t do this, you shouldn’t be doing it” but he was like “shh shut up”.
‘I tried to push him off and sat up and he put his hand around my throat and pushed me back down.
‘I was in pain and he seemed to get a lot more frustrated and angry with me. He turned me over, he grabbed my shoulders and moved me over.
‘He had his hand on my back, it was quite forceful because my face was on the bed. I was just crying I didn’t say much I didn’t know what to do.’
Mr Green quickly got dressed when friends banged on the door and claimed the woman was upset because she was ‘hit on’ in the club by another man, the court hear.
But in her statement the woman added: ‘I said “stop lying”. He was saying “I’ve got a girlfriend I’ll get in trouble forget about it”.
‘Then I just left. My mouth was cut on my lip and I was in a lot of pain. We were just friends, he was saying he liked me and things like that. But it never developed into anything more.
Mr Green allegedly threatened to kill himself when the woman messaged him to say that she’d said ‘no’
‘He messaged me and I said “I didn’t want to do that” and there was messages saying “don’t say anything, you said you wouldn’t say anything, I’d go to jail, I’d rather die. If you say anything I’ll kill myself”.
‘His last message was “I’m going to jump”. I ignored it because the police came.’
When the woman was examined she was found to have a graze to the lower lip and an injury to an intimate area of her body.
Prosecutor Philip Dobson told the jury: ‘So far, when you are trying to decide the truth of what when on it that bedroom you only have the accounts of the two people in the room – plus her being upset and promptly complaining to friends and the police.
‘But some messages that were exchanged very shortly afterwards are crucially important. They involve the defendant saying he could go to jail and would rather kill himself by jumping.
‘The complainant repeatedly pointed out that she didn’t want to do it and was saying, “no”. ‘
‘His response is very telling. If she had consented to the intercourse or he genuinely believed she had consented, you would expect him to reply, indignantly, contradicting her.
The teenager allegedly threatened to ‘jump’ when the student confronted him and accused him of rape
‘What he actually said was “Just forget about it, it’s done, its in the past, leave it”. ‘When she said, “I said no a million times”, he replied “I’m done, bye, you won’t see me again.”
‘It’s striking that he never challenged or contradicted what she was saying about telling him “No”.
‘The prosecution invite you to look closely at the messages for any sign of him saying, “I stopped as soon as you told me to”.’
Mr Green was arrested in his student accommodation and appeared to have a panic attack as officers went to question him, the court heard.
He said he and the woman had kissed at the nightclub and went back to his room where they had sex.
He said after a minute or two she said “no” and he stopped, pulled his trousers back up and apologised.
Mr Green, from Abertillery, in Monmouthshire, South Wales, denies rape. The trial continues.
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