Man who allegedly drugged and raped men he met on Grindr appears in court
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A man accused of drugging and raping men he met on the gay dating app Grindr has appeared in court.
Sam Ashley from Portsmouth has been accused of drugging and raping four men in an eight-month period, using Grindr to meet his alleged victims.
The incidents allegedly occurred between June and December of 2016, with three of the four victims found via Grindr.
Jurors at Portsmouth Crown Court heard testimony on Monday in which one man, a University of Portsmouth student, had woken up to find Ashley having sex with him after passing out.
In a video played in court, the 20-year-old student told the jury that he had passed out after taking “a couple of sips” of a drink made by him, Portsmouth News reported.
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He said: “I had a couple of sips, it wasn’t even a quarter of the glass. I sort of felt a bit shaky and wobbly then, not starting to spin but like I was on a boat in the middle of the sea.
“We kissed, it went blank, the next thing I remember – he was behind me and we were having sex.
“He was quite forceful and I remember I sort of gripped the pillow and I was more concentrating on trying to figure out where I was and just stop the room spinning.”
The 20-year-old had previously called Ashley “desperate” in an interview with police and said that Ashley had told the student he loved him.
Grindr (Leon Neal/Getty)
Prosecutor Robert Bryan told the court that sleeping pills diazepam and zopiclone had been found in Ashley’s bedroom by police.
The jury also heard that another alleged victim was given an “ultimatum” to meet Ashley, who claimed he had “terminal colon cancer.”
This victim, who is HIV-positive, told police that he was drugged and raped at his home after the pair had met at a bar.
After returning to his house, the victim said that Ashley had “tried to shove” poppers under his nose, before later finding Ashley trying to have sex with him.
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Prosecutor Bryan told the court that this victim “lost count of the number of times he said no” during the incident.
Related: Grindr is sharing the HIV status of users with outside companies
Ashley denies four charges of rape, four claims of administering a substance with intent and two attempted rapes.
The trial at Portsmouth Crown Court is expected to last three weeks.
(Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Two men in Scotland were recently convicted of drugging and raping two men they met through Grindr.
On Friday, Mohammed Khan and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, were charged with raping and attacking two men they found on the dating app.
The two men have been reprimanded in custody and will be sentenced at Edinburgh High Court on May 17.
