Woman insists she did not sell story to the press when questioned by Samuel Armstrong’s barrister

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A woman who alleges that an aide to a Conservative MP raped her in the Houses of Parliament has told a court she was left feeling “confused and devastated”.

The woman was in the witness box at the trial of Samuel Armstrong, who was chief of staff to the MP Craig Mackinlay when the attack is alleged to have taken place, for a second day on Wednesday.

Armstrong’s barrister, Sarah Forshaw QC, suggested the pair had consensual sex in Mackinlay’s office in October last year and that the woman was “not upset with [Armstrong] at all” when she left the Houses of Parliament after the encounter.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “Yes – I was completely confused and devastated in the truest sense of that word.”

She rejected Forshaw’s suggestion that she had made the allegation after becoming distressed as she tried to leave the Palace of Westminster at around 2am.

Forshaw suggested the woman and Armstrong mutually kissed as they danced to jazz music in the office, before having consensual sex.

The woman denied the claim as well as a suggestion that she had swept papers on to the floor so they could continue on a desk.

Forshaw said: “Far from being unhappy during this sexual encounter, you and he were chatting during sex?”

The barrister continued: “Do you remember him saying something like ‘How does the size suit the lady?’, or something?” “No,” the woman said.

Forshaw said: “Just like a tailor … and you said that it suited you well. Do you remember that?” “No,” the woman said again.

Southwark crown court heard that the woman acknowledged having sent her boyfriend a message within hours of the alleged attack that read: “Keeping you in the loop. I’ve given it to Harry Cole who works for the Sun. It will either be in the Mail on Sunday or the Sun front page on Monday.”

A later message said: “The media already knew so this is my way of controlling it to ensure I get a sympathetic writer.”



Asked about the messages by Forshaw, the woman insisted she did not sell the story and explained it had been a friend who spoke to the Sun.

“I really didn’t want my identity to come out and it was a state where I had absolutely no control in the event, so I wanted a little bit of control,” she said.

The woman also acknowledged having sent a request to follow Armstrong, who is 24, on Twitter on 3 September this year. She told jurors it was an accident, adding: “I never want to speak to him again.”



Forshaw asked her: “I don’t suggest you have deliberately set out to lie to get Sam in trouble. I suggest you told a lie at the time and once you had told it you couldn’t take it back.” The woman replied: “You would be incorrect.”

Forshaw said: “You don’t have any animosity towards Sam even now, do you?” The woman said: “No. It’s something I have struggled with in the last year.”

When it was put to her that everything that had happened was consensual, she said: “No, absolutely not.”

Armstrong denies two charges of rape and two of sexual assault.

The court has heard that the woman ran through the corridors of Westminster following the incident. A cleaner, Vincent Ble, told jurors she was “shaking and crying” when he first saw her, saying she held on to him, while his manager called police.

On Tuesday, the jury was played a recording of a police interview with the woman in which she described the attack. She told the officer who answered that she was “forced upon”.

“I got taken back, I don’t know ... and I’ve just had sex and I really, really didn’t want to,” she said.

The trial continues.

