Snooker star denies raping student at Savoy hotel

A professional snooker player accused of raping a student in The Savoy hotel was arrested four hours later in bed with another woman, a jury heard yesterday.

Quinten Hann, a 25-year-old Australian, is accused of attacking the 21-year-old student after dancing and drinking with her at a nightclub, the Old Bailey was told. The South African student, who broke down while giving evidence yesterday, claims she told Mr Hann, "No, please don't, I don't want to do this", but he continued to sexually assault her. After the alleged attack in October last year, Mr Hann is said to have told his victim he hoped she would have his baby.

The snooker player, ranked 14th in the world, claims the university student consented to sex. Police who arrived in the morning found Mr Hann in bed with another woman, the court was told.

Irena Ray-Crosby, for the prosecution, said the student and her friend had met in a pub in Islington, north London, and drank alcopops and beer before going to a nightclub called the Roadhouse. There they met two men who were friends of Mr Hann and who invited them to drink champagne and dance, she said.

The student, who cannot be named to protect her identity, was introduced to Mr Hann, who arrived at the club and was described as a snooker player and "really cool". Mr Hann and the student started chatting and before long they were "dancing together, kissing", Ms Ray-Crosby said.

Later, the two women, Mr Hann and one of his friends left the club and went to The Savoy, where the student said she expected to carry on drinking at the bar. But the four went up to Mr Hann's apartment in the hotel and the other two went off to a bedroom, leaving him alone with the student.

The student told Mr Hann she did not want to sleep with him because she had a boyfriend, the court heard. She told the jury: "He started kissing my neck again. The next thing I remember is being on the couch and my memory is quite blurred at this point. I remember my socks and shoes being taken off, then my trousers. I was constantly saying, 'No, I don't want to do this'.

"I have never been in a position like that. I have never felt I had to use force before. I was almost blacking out. I looked up and the next thing, he had nothing on. He was stood there with no clothes on. It happened so fast." She told the jury she tried to resist him but he raped her twice. "I was shocked, angry. The whole time this was happening, he wasn't listening to anything I was saying."

Asked why she did not shout for help, the student said: "I never thought it would get to where it got."

The defence barrister, Ivan Lawrence QC, asked if she had "got down close and personal" with Mr Hann when sitting on his lap in the apartment, she said she could not remember. She admitted being sat astride him with no trousers or knickers on, but denied "teasing" him with up and down movements, saying she was trying to get away.

She admitted she had given the snooker star a "peck" on the cheek as she left. She had also programmed her name and phone number into his mobile. On the way, Mr Hann phoned and they had a four-minute, 11-second conversation.

She said: "I just wanted to get out, to get home. He seemed aggressive and volatile, and I just wanted to get out of that room. I would have done anything."

The trial continues.