Mum-of-three killed while being raped ‘again and again’ on park bench

An NHS worker died after she was raped ‘again and again’ by a stranger on a park bench, a court heard.

Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, had been dead for hours before she was found by a passer-by in Southall Park, west London, on July 17, 2021.

Ms Shotter was a little more than five foot tall and weighed just 43kg at the time of her death, the Old Bailey heard.

Mohamed Lidow, 35, denies manslaughter and rape.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told jurors: ‘In the early morning of 17 July 2021, Natalie Shotter was found by a passerby on a bench in Southall park. She was 37 years old.

‘Very sadly, by the time she was found, she had died and it was obvious that she had been dead for a number of hours. The passerby who had found Natalie did not know her and he called the emergency services.

They added: ‘What had happened to Natalie to cause her death was not clear at that time. She had not been stabbed or beaten to death, there were no obvious signs of significant injury to her body and there was nobody else with her.

‘It has taken time to understand what must have happened to Natalie that night to understand what it was that must have caused her death. Crucially a CCTV camera at some distance away from the bench on which she was found would reveal what had happened to her that night.

‘The prosecution’s case is that Natalie was a vulnerable woman out enjoying herself who was then taken advantage of by this defendant. Natalie was raped repeatedly orally by this defendant and it was the process of orally raping her again and again that caused her death.

‘It is alleged that the defendant raped Natalie Shotter, by repeatedly penetrating her mouth with his penis. Although it is grainy and at a distance, the prosecution alleges that the CCTV footage shows the defendant engaging in acts of oral penetration.

‘This footage shows he positioned himself and Natalie in various ways to enable him to insert his penis into her mouth. You’ll also see from the footage and the absence of any clear movement by her, Natalie Shotter does not appear to have been conscious at that time.’

‘He could never have believed that she was consenting,’ they added, ‘The prosecution also alleges manslaughter. The prosecution’s case is that it was the process of raping Natalie repeatedly, which was obviously an unlawful thing to do, that caused her death.’

Iidow, of St Paul’s Close, Hounslow, was first arrested on August 4, 2021 and charged on December 21, 2023.

He denies rape and manslaughter.

The trial continues and is set to last two to three weeks.

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