‘Throat-slit threat’ to woman who says Pippa father-in-law raped her
‘Now I know your face’
A MAN has been arrested after witnesses said he made a throat-slitting gesture outside the home of a woman who says Pippa Middleton’s father- in- law raped her.
The hooded figure allegedly made the threatening gesture after buzzing her intercom, it has been reported. He also looked into her car and said to a relative: ‘Now I know your face.’ The woman, who has accused David Matthews, 74, of rape was not at home at the time of the incident early last Sunday, The Sun reported. It comes as the woman’s father praised her courage for coming forward.
Mr Matthews, father of Pippa’s husband James, was arrested in Paris last month after the woman told police he attacked her in the French capital and on the Caribbean island of St Barts, where he and his wife Jane own a £5,000-a-night hotel.
She told police she was raped in 1998 when she was 15, and again a year later.
Mr Matthews has been charged with ‘rape of a minor by a person with authority over his victim’, which carries a maximum 15-year jail sentence in France.
The former racing driver denies the allegations, while a family source insisted the multi-millionaire had been ‘set up’ to humiliate him and his family, just months after his financier son James, 42, married Prince William’s sister-in-law Pippa, 34. But the woman’s father said she had been deeply hurt by what she sees as an attempt to cast her as a fantasist. ‘The idea that she is doing this for compensation, or for any other reason than a desire for justice, is completely wrong,’ he added. He said his daughter, who is now 36, confided in her parents three years ago.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then told French police last year.
Her father, who lives in Brita ain, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘She told me, “You don’t know what I’ve been going through all these years.” Then it all came pouring out.
‘ The family are furious about what is coming out from the Matthews side since she came forward as she is being made out to be fantasist and having made it all up. What could possibly be her motivation for revenge or embarrassing the Matthews?
‘We are all behind her and believe her. She had the courage to speak out – and she did, and by doing so she feels she can give herself some sense of closure.’
Last week, a second woman accused Mr Matthews of rape. She is believed to be a former family friend, now in her 60s.
Mr Matthews has not been arrested over these claims. He has been released on bail over the first allegations. Authorities in France have six months to decide whether he should stand trial.
A spokesman for Mr Matthews said: ‘David Matthews categorically denies the allegation and unequivocally contests the untrue and scandalous accusation.’