Chinese tourist 'raped' after being offered free bed for the night from man on 'couchsurfing' website



Attack horror: Abdelali Nachet allegedly raped a tourist twice during a 'degrading and humiliating' ordeal that lasted throughout the night

A woman of 29 was raped by a man who offered her free accommodation through a website aimed at helping travellers, a court has heard.

She arranged to stay with Abdelali Nachet through CouchSurfing.com after using the site to stay with strangers across Europe without any problems.



But her brief stay in Leeds turned into a nightmare, it was alleged.



Nachet, 34, took her back to his flat, threatened to kill her and raped her twice during a 'degrading and humiliating' ordeal that lasted throughout the night.



Prosecutor Simon Phillips said the woman tried to escape but tripped up in the hall and Nachet told her: 'If you try to run away I will kill you and after that I will kill myself.'



He added: 'She felt in very real and genuine fear that she was at risk of being murdered by this defendant.



'She submitted, she never consented. He was aware of this but was persistent. He went on and on for a long time.'



The woman from Hong Kong had recently completed a trip to Italy and Spain using the same worldwide hospitality website which enables travellers to fix up free accommodation with volunteers offering themselves as hosts.



She had also used it in France and had stayed with another single man in Birmingham without incident.

Mr Phillips said: 'This site enables travellers to find free accommodation with like-minded individuals, people interested in travelling, people who want to meet new people, interested in hosting people overseas, showing them some hospitality and perhaps showing them the area where they live.



'It's a recognised forum for finding accommodation. There is nothing disreputable about it.'



The woman wanted to visit Leeds and emailed Nachet, a Moroccan, after spotting his entry on the website. Nachet said on his site profile he worked in marketing and would

offer Moroccan hospitality and show visitors a 'good time'.

She travelled from Birmingham by bus on March 5 and was met by Nachet at around 6pm, Leeds Crown Court heard.

He took her for a drink in a cafe and they then made a meal together at his two-bedroom city flat.



Afterwards she asked to use the internet to make her next booking. He was playing music and began dancing.



He asked her to join him and when she said she was not good at dancing, he said he would show her.



Mr Phillips said he held her and began to get very close. She did not like it and said she had to get back on the internet.



Later the woman was getting ready to go to bed and Nachet knocked on the door and offered to show her some family photographs, the court heard.



To be polite she agreed and followed him into the bedroom. The light was suddenly turned off and he allegedly attacked her.



Nachet allegedly made the woman have a bath after the rapes to get rid of incriminating forensic evidence.



Mr Phillips said the morning after Nachet did some vacuuming before leaving the flat with the woman.



She got on a bus back to the West Midlands and alerted police after telling a male friend she had met on couchsurfing.com what had happened.



The jury heard the night after the alleged rape, two women and a man Nachet had met on the same website had travelled to Leeds to stay at his flat.



Mr Phillips said Nachet started dancing with one of the women and tried to touch her breasts.



Nachet denies two counts of rape and one of sexual assault. When arrested he

claimed she consented.



The jury watched a recorded police interview in which the woman gave a graphic account of the sex attack speaking through a translator.



She said she trusted the couchsurfing website and thought it was a 'reliable' tool for travellers.

The case continues



