The parents of a woman who was allegedly raped to death sat together today and watched her final moments unfold on the court.
Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, west London, a court heard.
Mohamed Lidow, 35, is accused of orally raping her at around midnight on July 16, 2021, the Old Bailey heard. He denies rape and murder.
He was caught on CCTV with Ms Shotter, who was just five feet tall and weighed six and a half stone.
Ms Shotter’s relatives, including her mother Dr Cas Shotter Weetman, sat in the Old Bailey public gallery as the jury was shown CCTV footage of Iidow approaching his daughter on a park bench in the late hours. of the night.
After about 15 minutes, Iidow got up and left the scene. On the way home he bought cat food and Listerine at a Shell garage.
The NHS worker was found dead by a passer-by in Southall Park early the next morning.
The prosecution alleges that the repeated rapes caused Ms Shotter to die of cardiac arrest. CCTV from a camera in the park was shown to the jury and narrated by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC.
One male juror was crying as the images were shown and two female jurors turned their faces away from the images.
Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, west London.
Ms Shotter (pictured with her mother) was just over 5ft tall and weighed just over six stone and a half (43kg), jurors were told.
Shotter was found dead on a bench in Southall Park (pictured), west London, in July 2021.
Members of Mrs Shotter’s family, who were sitting in the court yard, were also visibly upset.
Morgan KC claimed that Iidow, who appeared in court via live video link from Belmarsh prison, had orally raped Shotter to such an extent that “hyperstimulation of the delicate nerves at the back of her throat” It caused him to go into cardiac arrest.
She told the court: ‘At 11.41pm you can see her arm moving, swaying a little, she is lying along the bench.
‘Natalie is lying down and there is nothing to suggest that she has suddenly fallen to the ground dead or that she is having a seizure.
‘Consumption of alcohol and poppers could have caused her to lie down that way, she must have been drowsy and semi-conscious.
‘The prosecution’s argument is that even if he had consumed those substances, there was no reason for him to die before that time.
‘It is very possible that she was lying on that bench thanks to what she consumed.
‘What was the accused doing there? What was he looking to do, walking up and down the trails in the middle of the night?
‘Looking for a woman vulnerable to rape.’
The court heard Ms Shotter (pictured) was very vulnerable on the night of the attack.
Jurors cried when shown CCTV footage of the alleged rape. Pictured: Southall Park
“The only person who would have known if Natalie Shotter was alive was this defendant,” the prosecutor said.
“He was raping her repeatedly, the prosecution’s case is not just rape but also manslaughter, the prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her.” She was not dead at that time.
‘He had sexual relations with someone who was alive but deeply unconscious.
“She said Natalie Shotter lay down on the bench and then he tried to pick her up for a minute or two, ‘hit’ her and asked her if she was okay and then left. She said the whole process took six minutes.
“During the third police interview, the defendant was informed that Natalie Shotter had been found dead in the park in the early hours of the morning. “He was surprised and said he wished he had helped her.”
The court was shown a recording of the interview in which Iidow reacted to the news of Ms Shotter’s death by saying “Holy crap” and “Oh God”.
The prosecutor continued: ‘One of the questions you will want to ask yourself is: if Natalie Shotter had died before the defendant even found her, why was he so shocked to learn of her death?
“He is in shock because the person he orally raped was alive, not conscious, but alive.
“He then stated that Natalie Shotter was a fully consenting adult, in control of her movements and verbally responsive.
‘When he left Natalie, she was fine, if not a little slumped on the bench. He said that while he was behind the bench with his shorts down, Ms Shotter had moved to her knees in front of him.
“He further said that he asked her if she needed him to call someone for her, to which she refused and mentioned that she was waiting for friends.
‘So the defendant’s story is that Natalie Shotter was alive and consented to sexual activity with the defendant. You will want to consider whether the CCTV footage suggests that Natalie Shotter appeared to be consenting to sexual activity in the way the defendant claims.
In a police interview he said Ms Shotter had offered him a “blowjob” for £10.
A toxicology report showed that Shotter was three times the legal driving limit, but that neither his consumption of alcohol nor poppers was likely to have caused his death.
Morgan KC said: “That night of partying and consuming what she did made her vulnerable, vulnerable to men, vulnerable to this defendant, but it didn’t kill her.”
NHS worker Natalie Shotter (pictured) was attacked after apparently falling unconscious during a night out in Southall, west London, jurors were told.
Morgan said Shotter (far right) had been drinking and may have inhaled the legal high amyl nitrate, also known as poppers, but insisted this did not cause his death.
‘By raping her again and again (he) caused her cardiac arrest.’
The court was previously shown CCTV from the same night showing Ms Shotter walking the streets and talking on her mobile phone.
At one point she stopped in front of a store to dance to the beat of a drum and was joined by a man and two other women.
Morgan noted that Shotter didn’t appear to be so drunk that she couldn’t stand or had difficulty walking, adding that she seemed “happy.”
Lidow, of St Paul’s Close, Hounslow, was first arrested on August 4, 2021 and charged on December 21, 2023.
The trial continues.