Former West Ham player Cristian Montano may face retrial after jury fails to reach verdict in rape case
Cristian Montano may face a retrial. Picture: PA - Credit: EMPICS Sport
A former West Ham star accused of raping a young woman in Romford after his friend had had sex with her may face a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict today.
Midfielder Cristian Montano, 22, allegedly took the woman back to Axiom Apartments, in Mercury Gardens, with two friends and attacked her as she pleaded with him to stop.
The jury found his Andres Hurtado, 23, and Camilo Valencia, 22, not guilty of rape at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
But the panel did not reach a verdict against Montano on the single charge of rape.
The alleged victim, who cannot legally be named, had started chatting to Hurtado and Montano at the Liquid club on July 8, 2012.
She told the court: “My next memory was waking up in the bedroom, naked, with no clothes on.
“One of them was having sex with me.
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“I was trying to push him off me but I couldn’t, he was too strong but I was saying ‘Get off me’.
“Immediately after that another guy got into the bed and he penetrated me as well.
“I kept saying ‘No’ but he didn’t say anything and he just kept going.
“I went into the bathroom and sat there for a bit - I felt dirty.”
Hurtado and Montano said they had consensual sex with her. Valencia denied having sex with her.
Montano, who played for Oldham last year after he was released by West Ham, claims the girl had “encouraged” him into bed and he stopped having sex with her because he felt guilty about cheating on his girlfriend.
Montano, of Moston, Greater Manchester, denies rape. Valencia, of Woolridge Way, Hackney and Hurtado, of Pemberton Gardens, Upper Holloway, were cleared of the charge.
A decision on the retrial is expected next Thursday.
