Mark Lett, 43, and George Ellis, 41, were arrested on December 26, 2024, after the alleged incident in the early hours of December 21, 2024.

A 19-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was raped in Steine Lane, Brighton, after he met the men following a night out.

The two men deny the rape allegations.

Hove Trial Centre heard Lett and Ellis checked into the Travelodge in West Street on December 20, before leaving the hotel to go out at around 8pm.

The teenager was also out drinking in “various pubs” with friends in the city centre.

The court heard the man, who was intoxicated, tried to get the night bus home at around 3am after he left his friends.

However, his phone was dead and he could not pay for his journey so he returned to the bus stop.

The two men, who had just left Legends in Marine Parade, met the teen at the bus stop at around 3.20am and “started chatting”. The teen told police he believed they were called Georgie and Louie.

The three men then walked away together, as shown on CCTV. Footage presented to the court showed the group walking to Steine Lane.

During the walk, the teenager claimed in a police interview that he was asked “if [he] wanted to have a threesome”, which “made [his] skin crawl”.

In another interview, the teen told police he was heterosexual.

At around 3.30am, the teen was “pushed against a wall” before he was “taken into a doorway” in Steine Lane.

The teen said he was “lifted in the air” and taken down a set of basement stairs from the street, where the rapes are alleged to have taken place.

In a police interview from December 2024 shown to the court, the teen said: “I don’t remember if I was coerced, if I was pushed. I don’t remember if I said yes.

“I remember stumbling, my head came down and I remember something in the back of my neck.

“I remember my jeans being down and my belt being loose.

“I remember saying ‘no, no, no, no, no’.”

The boy said he “realised what was happening” and “turned around and grabbed [Ellis]”, before “biting his face”.

He also said he shouted “you’re raping me, you’re trying to rape me”.

The court then heard the boy was punched.

Prosecutor Ian Hope said: “The complainant said when he was pushed into the wall, it triggered his PTSD.

“He described high anxiety. He said he got scared and shut down.

“He said when he came round he was down the basement steps and realised what was happening to him.

“That’s why he started fighting him.”

The three men were at the bottom of the basement stairs for around five minutes in total, before they emerged back onto the street.

The boy and members of the public can then be seen on CCTV chasing the men.

The court heard the boy was comforted by members of the public before police arrived.

Mr Hope said the boy sat on some steps and “cried his eyes out”, before police found him “very distressed”.

Lett, of Court Crescent, Chessington, is accused of orally raping the boy, while Ellis, of Lammas Lane, Esher, is accused of raping him anally.

The pair are charged with rape, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault with intent to commit relevant sexual offence.

The trial continues.





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