Ballymena boxer is charged with raping two women in separate attacks
An amateur boxer has appeared before a court accused of raping two women in separate attacks.
In the dock of Ballymena Magistrates Court was 28-year-old Jacob Frank Bradshaw. Regarding January this year, the defendant, from Stroma Drive in Ballymena, faces two charges of raping a woman, two charges of sexually assaulting her; and single counts of non-fatal strangulation and causing actual bodily harm.
On a second charge sheet, alleged to have been committed last summer, Bradshaw faces further allegations of rape and non-fatal strangulation in relation to a second woman.
A PSNI officer objected to bail. She outlined that having been in contact with Bradshaw through social media, a woman met with the defendant and had arranged to go for a meal in January this year.
They were drinking together and the complainant said that she had "consensual sex with the defendant,” said the officer. A short time later, the defendant and another male asked the woman for a "threesome" but she refused.
According to the police case, the woman was then raped and sexually assaulted. The defendant had then taken her to a bathroom and "choked her out".
Regarding last summer, the officer outlined how Bradshaw and a different woman had an argument and ”she threw a drink over the defendant".
“The defendant responded by grabbing her hair and dragging her". He grabbed her by the throat and she was unable to breathe, the court heard.
Bradshaw, the officer claimed, “released his grip” and the woman caught her breath but he allegedly grabbed her again by the throat. Later he allegedly raped her.
The officer told the court that Bradshaw had been on police bail but it was alleged he breached bail by being in contact with individuals connected to the cases.
A defence barrister said Bradshaw “has a completely clear record and has never been in trouble before”.
In relation to the allegations from last summer, the defendant asserts any "sexual contact was consensual".
Regarding January, the lawyer said the defendant "flatly denies" the allegations. He will be "contesting these matters" the court was told.
Bradshaw, said the barrister, “is a quite successful amateur boxer, hoping to go pro.”
Deputy District Judge Trevor Browne said Bradshaw is accused of “some of the most serious charges on the criminal calendar,” so in that regard, he should have been keeping to his bail conditions.
“Clearly, he sets himself apart in these things and thinks that these are only suggestions by the court, rather than something much more serious,” Judge Browne said.
He said the fact that Bradshaw did not keep his police bail conditions “gives me significant concern” but that concerns could be addressed by conditions.
Releasing Bradshaw on bail and adjourning the case to May 21, the judge imposed a curfew, barred him from contacting the complainants or witnesses and ordered him to report to police three times a week.
Judge Browne warned the defendant that if he breached bail again "you will go out the back door, to a prison van and to prison, understand that and how serious this case is".