'Raped' by anarchist in St Paul's protest camp tent: Leader of anti-capitalists attacked me twice in shadow of cathedral, woman tells court



Malcolm Blackman, 45, allegedly raped woman twice in her tent in London



Activist frequently spoke to media during anti-capitalist protest at St Paul's



He tied woman's hands behind her back with cable ties, Old Bailey hears

'Attack': Malcolm Blackman, 45, allegedly twice raped a woman inside the Occupy London protest camp

An anarchist leader twice raped a woman at the infamous protest camp on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

The alleged assaults happened at the squalid tent city set up by hundreds of anti-capitalists in the Occupy London group.

Malcolm Blackman, self-styled leader of computer hacking group Anonymous UK, raped the woman in her tent twice in seven days, including once when she had passed out drunk, the court heard.

The woman sobbed as she told the jury why she had not informed other Occupy members about the alleged rapes. ‘It was all, protest, protest, protest, and if you had any personal issues you were out of line,’ she said. She was scared to report the rapes for fear of upsetting the ‘togetherness’ of the group, which reportedly encouraged members to ‘focus on the protests’.

The woman also claims she was raped a third time and her hands violently bound with plastic ties – although Blackman, 45, has not been charged with this alleged offence.

Blackman apparently acted as a ‘leader’ and spokesman for Anonymous UK, the British wing of the global internet hacking group that carries out cyber attacks on capitalist targets and governments.

The court heard that he started a sexual relationship with the woman shortly after they met at the makeshift encampment in November 2011. He moved into her four-man tent in the new year after claiming the zip on his tent was broken.

The woman said: ‘He was a welcoming sort of character, people turned to him. He seemed to be a leader sort of person.’

But on January 14, while they were kissing in her tent, he apparently pulled plastic ties from his pocket and roughly tightened them around her wrists, before raping her.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman said: ‘One minute it all seemed to be normal and the next minute he’s putting ties round my wrists and it’s really hurting. He held my hands in one hand and he put the ties round really quickly.’

Protest site: The woman was allegedly attacked twice by Blackman, 45, inside the central London camp

Afterwards he cut the ties and she lay sobbing while he fell asleep, she claimed.



Asked why she did not tell anyone, she replied: ‘I was ashamed and embarrassed. I didn’t know if it was me perhaps not being experienced in a relationship. I saw it as something I had done wrong in some way.’

When asked why she had not evicted him from her tent after that, she said: ‘I could have but I didn’t.



'He was a very strong character and I was probably frightened of upsetting the general togetherness of the camp. I wanted to keep quiet, to keep in the background and not make a big issue of it.’



'It was all, protest, protest, protest, and if you had any personal issues you were out of line' Woman

The woman would spend every weekend at St Paul’s, returning to her job and home in London in the week.

The following Saturday, January 21, she returned to the camp and drank brandy and wine with other protesters.

Later that night, Blackman went into her tent and they had a conversation before she apparently ‘passed out’.

She said the next thing she remembered was him assaulting her, but she was too ‘shocked’ to protest and he later fell asleep in the tent.