Mar 6 2010 by Keith Fairbank, South Wales Echo

A JURY will reconvene on Monday in the trial of a 29-year-old African refugee charged with two counts of rape.

John Medhane, an Eritrean national, admits to having twice had sex with a 37-year-old woman at his Cardiff home after they met on a night out. The woman claims she was subjected to two separate rapes in his kitchen.

Prosecution counsel Tom Crowther previously told Cardiff Crown Court Medhane and a friend met two women and took them back to his house.

He said one woman refused the advances of Medhane’s friend, who subsequently left, while the complainant made food and tea with Medhane in his small kitchen.

She claims he grabbed her, removed her jeans and forced himself upon her.

Yesterday, Mr Crowther concluded: “Mr Medhane was looking for sex that night and perhaps he thought that was how people behaved in Cardiff on a Friday night?

“For 26 of his 29 years he has lived in a place where things are done differently.

“He is a refugee, which means he has been persecuted in his own country, and we cannot hold that against him, but he made a judgement about these women.”

Defence barrister Harry Baker pointed to Medhane’s small stature, said he was a “softly-spoken gentleman” all night, and could be considered attractive to many women.

He asked: “These were strangers in his house but they were relaxed enough to make food and a cup of tea. Did this man turn really into a monster in an instant?

“The woman had consensual sex with him but panicked the second time when her friend caught them together.

“This is a situation of how regret can facilitate a complaint.”

Judge Isobel Parry reminded the jury to consider each count of rape separately. (walesonline)