London rape retrial set for next August

A SOUTH African digital marketing boss who is accused of raping a woman in his London flat will have to wait until next August for his retrial, a UK court heard.

According to The Daily Mail, Edward Love allegedly forced himself on his date at his Notting Hill home after she refused to have sex with him unless he wore a condom.

But the 32-year-old former UCT student insisted that the woman “enjoyed rough sex” and he told jurors at Southwark Crown Court, “I know what consent is.”

The British court heard that Love and his date at the time met after an alcohol-filled night out in West London on August 21, 2020, and went back to the woman’s apartment where they had consensual sex, the UK publication reported.

After a couple of days of texting, the pair arranged to meet again two days later.

Jurors then heard how Love had invited his date back to his flat before they quickly became intimate in his living room, the woman sitting on his lap as they “kissed and cuddled”.

The woman told the court Love began receiving messages from his flatmate telling them “to keep it down”.

“I thought we were not making much noise, we only had a glass of wine, we were whispering,” she told the court.

The pair then moved on into Love's room when the victim asked if he had a condom, which he did not, The Daily Mail reported.

“I said okay, well I don’t want to do anything, let’s just go to sleep,” the woman said. But she added that within a matter of minutes, Love began “touching my boobs, my a***, everywhere”.

“He got on top of me, he’s much bigger than me, he is 6’2 (1.8m) and quite broad.”

Love, who works as an SEO manager for the fashion retail group TFG London, allegedly told the woman to “open your legs, open your legs” before holding her arms down and raping her.

After a week-long trial, the jury cleared Love of sexual assault and assault by penetration, but failed to reach an agreement on the remaining charge of rape. His retrial was scheduled for August 7, 2023, almost three years after the alleged offence. Love denies rape.