Samantha Hart, a 32-year-old mother of four and and her 22-year-old boyfriend Charlie Olding have been convicted of locking a wom,an in a cellar, having unlawful carnal knowledge of her and recording the horrific ordeal.
The couple who will be spending the next decade behind bars, were accused of subjecting their victim to “vile abuse, intimidation and humiliation’’, with the help of Olding’s then 17-year-old cousin, Lee Kitchiner.
Hart was said to have led the abuse after accusing the victim of being sexually involved with her boyfriend, Olding days after she had suffered a miscarriage.
It was learnt that the victim had visited a property in Chatham, Kent, on September 10, 2020, when she was lured to the cellar and brutally abused. Over 30 “distressing and explicit” video clips were found on Olding’s phone, showing the woman’s assault, some of them filmed by Kitchiner. They were arrested after the rape victim fled the house and contacted cops.
Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson in his testimony in court, said the abuse was so severe that the victim even offered them money and said she would kill herself as she begged to be left alone.
The victim in a video-recorded impact statement made to police earlier this year, revealed that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and wants to end her life.
She said;
“It has made me feel worthless, low, not to trust anyone. I’m not the independent person I used to be. I feel so weak and keep getting nightmares, cold sweats, thinking they are going to come through my door.
“I keep seeing faces of them and things in my head telling me I’m not safe.
“I just want to be normal again, happy, and just try and forget everything.
“I just cry myself to sleep and think if I kill myself would it be a better place. I don’t want to be that scared, frightened person.”
However Hart’s counsel, Catherine Donnelly stated that the impact of her miscarriage and her sense of betrayal had created “the perfect storm”, leading to the “catastrophic” events for which she now wished to apologise to the victim.
Ruling on the case, Judge Philip Statman said Hart had behaved in a “domineering way, exercising power” over the victim in what was “bullying of the most savage kind”.
Statman said;
“Each of you made callous, disgusting remarks about how this act (rape) should be performed.
“It caused your victim to be violated and she felt embarrassed and disgusted by what she was being told to do.
“This was a grave attack of a sexual nature perpetrated on your victim.”
Hart and Olding, both of Chatham, were unanimously convicted of rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity for which they received 11 and 10 years respectively during their appearance at Maidstone Crown Court. Both will have to serve two-thirds of their prison terms before they can apply for parole.
Kitchiner, now 18, of Strood, Kent, was found unanimously guilty of the sexual activity offence. He was cleared of rape and assault. He was given a two-year custodial sentence suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation sessions, and a 12-month tagged curfew.
