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George Orwa found guilty of raping woman in Sittingbourne churchyard

A sex beast who dragged a terrified woman into a graveyard at night is facing a long jail sentence after he was convicted of rape.

George Orwa had claimed the victim consented after suggesting going into the churchyard for sex, but a jury unanimously convicted him yesterday.

Sentence was adjourned until March 17 so that dangerousness could be assessed.

VIDEO: The man raped his victim in the graveyard.

Judge Adele Williams praised the police's “truly exemplary” investigation.

The victim had been drinking heavily during a night out in Sittingbourne with a friend, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

They ended up at bar in the late evening on August 13 last year in the High Street.

Prosecutor Martin Yale said she and her friend went onto the dance floor. Married Orwa, a Kenyan who is in the UK on a spouse visa, started dancing behind her.

She danced with the 33-year-old supermarket worker for a while and then moved away.

CCTV showed the friends leaving the bar at 1.20am. Orwa left 30 seconds later.

She started to walk home alone, declining her friend’s suggestion to share a taxi.

The case was heard at Maidstone Crown Court
The case was heard at Maidstone Crown Court

Despite living in the opposite direction, Orwa followed her. She recalled him grabbing her and telling her he wanted to walk her home. She rebuffed him.

They reached St Michael’s churchyard near the bottom of the High Street, which is not covered by CCTV cameras.

“He grabbed her arm and pushed her into the graveyard,” said Mr Yale. “He threw her into a gravestone. She described it as a big gravestone or plaque.

“Mr Orwa held her down. He kept saying he loved her. He said she was a sweet girl and he had never been with an English girl before.

“He was leaning on her. She froze. She was unable to get him off her. He pulled her trousers down.”

He unzipped his own trousers and raped her despite her protests.

The woman, who is in her 40s, hit him on the head. She pulled up her trousers and went to the nearby bus stop and called the police.

"I screamed at him to leave me alone. I screamed at him I was going to call the police and he left" - Orwa's victim

“I screamed at him to leave me alone,” she said. “I screamed at him I was going to call the police and he left.”

Denying rape, Orwa, of Agate Court, Sonora Fields, Sittingbourne, said in evidence he had been in the UK for three years after joining his wife here. He planned to go to university.

He went out in Sittingbourne on the night of the offence to “dance and have fun”.

Dancing in the bar, he said, brought him together with the woman. “She didn’t retreat and we just clicked,” he claimed. "We were free and friendly.

“Something strange happened. We got close to each other. We kissed.”

Orwa said he decided to go home to his wife after he saw the friends leave, but followed them to thank them for a good night.

The woman, he said, agreed to let him walk her down the High Street and on the way they kissed.

“At the entrance to the churchyard I went to finally say goodbye to her,” he continued. “We hugged each other and ended up kissing.

“We were touching each other. We have no second thought about it. This thing has become so intense and she is actually moaning and groaning with pleasure and excitement.

“She told me: ‘I need you.’ She was caressing me. I asked her: ‘What shall we do?’ I told her we couldn’t go to my house because I have a wife.

Judge Adele Williams
Judge Adele Williams

“Then she suggested we go to the churchyard. I asked her: ‘Do you think it is right?’ She said: “Yeah, it will be OK. It is late and it is quiet.’

“This connection and the chemistry we had has taken our mind. The woman needs me, I need the woman. We walk freely inside the churchyard. We found a dark spot."

Orwa, who had not asked her name, claimed they had both lowered their trousers and had intercourse on the ground between a yew tree and a tomb.

“I heard someone talking and I told her: ‘We cannot do this.’ She suddenly got up. After adjusting her trousers she started to walk to the entrance.

“I head her say ‘No, no’ like ‘What have I done?’ I was shocked, I was surprised. I concluded that probably she is ashamed - some people have seen us doing this and she has made a mistake.

“I followed her to check she was OK. She said to me: ‘Please just go away.’ This added to my shock. Why is she telling me to go away? I turned back and walked away because I didn’t know what to do next.”

Orwa was remanded in custody.

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