Former Spandau Ballet singer Ross William Wild filmed himself touching a sleeping woman in an apartment during the Cannes Film Festival, a court heard today.
Wild – whose real name is Ross Davidson – is accused of a series of sexual crimes against five women and of raping three of them over a decade between 2013 and 2023.
It is alleged that he wanted to have sex up to six times a night and forced himself on women who rejected him.
Jurors heard the Scot was “a bit of a sex symbol” after starring in the West End musical “We Will Rock You” a decade ago.
But Davidson, who became Spandau Ballet’s lead singer in 2018, had “a darker side” and “expected to have sex on demand”, Wood Green Crown Court heard.
Davidson was staying in an apartment during the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018 when he allegedly filmed himself sexually assaulting the third complainant while she was sleeping.
Former Spandau Ballet singer Ross William Wild arrives at Wood Green Crown Court
Wild (pictured) is accused of raping three women and filming himself sexually abusing his victims while they slept.
(L-R) Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp, John Keeble, Ross William Wild and Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet backstage at Eventim Apollo on October 29, 2018 in London
The woman told the court: “I left the boating industry when I found out about this.”
He said he was shown still images of the video on Davidson’s phone and that he watched the entire video.
“Tell us, in one or two words, what your reaction was,” prosecutor Richard Hearnden asked.
The woman responded: “Absolutely disgusted.”
He said that before returning to Davidson’s rented apartment, the two went to a party.
“We both drank a lot of alcohol that night. I can handle a lot of alcohol but I was pretty drunk. He was too,” he recalled.
He said when they returned to the apartment, they had a few more drinks.
‘I know I had a drink. She was pretty tired and she needed to sleep. I had one or two. I’m not sure, it wasn’t significant at the time. It’s not something I can remember,” she said.
—Don’t you remember what you were doing or saying when you went to bed? the prosecutor asked.
‘No not really.’
She told officers they took a taxi back to her home.
The jury was told that Wild, whose real name is Ross Davidson, had a “darker” and “sinister” side with fantasies of having sex with women while they slept.
Aberdeen-born Davidson (pictured) had “a problem” of wanting to have sex with sleeping women, jurors were told.
Charlotte Newell, KC, defending, suggested they had walked back and that Davidson had kissed her on the way home.
‘He tried to kiss me. I was quite surprised. She never had anything romantic,” the woman said.
Mrs Newell asked: “Have you ever shown any interest in your breasts?”
The woman replied: ‘I don’t remember, to be honest. No.’
Mrs Newell asked: “Have you ever encouraged him to show interest in your breasts?”
She replied, ‘No, I don’t think so.’
Newell asked her if he had touched her genitals, but the woman said “nothing like that ever happened.”
Mrs Newell said: “Don’t you remember why you were drunk?”
She replied: ‘Of course not. I would never do that.’
He also denied having performed oral sex on her.
Mrs Newell asked: “I’m going to suggest that you knew he was filming.”
She replied: ‘No.’
Mrs Newell asked: “You said yes, as long as your face didn’t appear in it.”
Davidson (pictured singing with Spandau Ballet in October 2018), denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, one count of voyeurism, one count of intimidation and one count of controlling behaviour.
She replied: ‘If someone asked me that, I would be sleeping on the street. That kind of behavior is not normal for me.
“He tried to kiss me. He backed away, we made a joke and that’s it.
Newell suggested to the woman that he knew about the video and had asked Davidson to delete it.
She replied: ‘I didn’t know anything about the video until the police called me.
‘There must be something very wrong with him. He needs help. I didn’t give my consent.
Mrs Newell asked: “Perhaps you forgot because of your drunkenness?”
She replied, “Of course not.”
Davidson is accused of a series of sexual crimes against five women and of raping three of them over a decade between 2013 and 2023.
The woman later told the court she felt she had to testify to support Davidson’s other alleged victims and called the singer “dangerous.”
“People have to go through a long process,” he said. “I didn’t really want the drama.”
But he added: “I heard there were other victims.”
The prosecutor asked, “Why did that make a difference?”
The woman said: ‘I felt I had to support the other victims. It’s dangerous, I was going to do it again. It is evident that there is something wrong with her.
Mr Hearnden asked her if she ever had any romantic feelings towards Davidson.
She replied, “He’s not really my type.” He’s quite vain, quite a pretty boy, I don’t like him.
She said she thought he was gay until he tried to kiss her at a yacht party in Cannes.
“Until then I thought maybe I was gay,” he said.
Davidson (pictured) allegedly attacked a woman in Cannes, where he had attended the film festival in May 2018.
“It gave the impression of being more homosexual.”
Mr Hearnden asked him: “Have you ever quarreled with Ross?”
The woman replied: ‘Never, no.’
Jurors have heard that Davidon filmed himself fondling women while they slept and enjoying acting out rape scenarios.
Davidson, born in Aberdeen, had “a problem” of wanting to have sex with sleeping women, the court heard.
Davidson, of Finchley, north London, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, one count of voyeurism, one count of intimidation and one count of controlling behaviour, between 2013 and 2023.
He replaced Tony Hadley as lead singer of Spandau Ballet in 2018 after playing Elvis Presley in the hit West End musical Million Dollar Quartet, alongside the band’s bassist Martin Kemp.
The trial was adjourned until Friday.
