A FORMER British ice dancer accused of raping a young girl more than 20 years ago was supported in court by GB winter olympians.

Philip Askew, 44 from Nottingham, a former ice dancing coach at Bracknell ice rink, was supported in court by Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland, who watched on from the public gallery having returned Pyeongchang only days ago. 

A jury at Reading Crown Court heard how it is alleged that Askew drove the girl in his black Mazda MX3 to the YMCA in Slough, where he was staying at the time, and raped her in his bedroom. 

The jury heard that the alleged victim’s sister had found her personal diary where she had documented the rape.

She told the court that upon reading it, she ran downstairs to where her parents were and shouted: “my sister is no longer a virgin.”

A confrontation later took place between Askew and the accuser’s parents, and while giving evidence, the father described him as ‘arrogant’ and ‘dismissive’ of the accusations. 

The father then revealed that the family had decided to not take any further action at the time.

The court heard that  Askew continued to work at Bracknell ice rink for up to 18 months after being confronted.

Bracknell News:

Defence barrister Sarah Elliott QC had made a suggestion that the alleged victim had a ‘crush’ on Askew and said had a drawing of him on her wall.

Earlier in the trial, the  alleged victim told the court from behind a screen about about the moments leading up to the alleged rape. 

She said: “I do not know how we got from having a normal conversation to having an interaction of a sexual nature.

“I told him that I didn’t want to do anything but he was trying to reassure me that it was okay.

“It was not something that I wanted.

“I did not think that I was going to get hurt but he implied that I had wanted this to happen.

“He just got on top of me. He was really heavy and there was no way that I could get away.”

The trial continues.