Rapper Slowthai breaks down as he is cleared of rape
BBC
The rapper was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021
Grammy-nominated rapper Slowthai has broken down in court after being cleared of raping a fan at an after-show party.
The 29-year-old, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, had been accused of raping the woman following his performance at The Bullingdon, in Oxford, in September 2021.
He and his co-accused, Alex Blake-Walker, were both found not guilty on three joint counts of rape following a trial at Oxford Crown Court.
Mr Blake-Walker was also cleared on one count of sexual assault.
As the not guilty verdicts were read out, Mr Frampton broke down in tears in the dock, while crying was also heard from the public gallery.
The jury, made up of eight men and four women, reached its majority verdicts after more than 10 hours of deliberation.
The trial heard that a group of women who Mr Frampton had met before his show on the Cowley Road in Oxford had invited the rapper and his friends to a party at one of their houses.
The prosecution had alleged Mr Blake-Walker had raped the one woman whilst being encouraged by Mr Frampton – who, it was alleged, then twice raped the second complainant.
Mr Frampton agreed that sexual activity had taken place between him and the second complainant, but insisted it had been consensual.
Giving evidence during the trial, he said: “I know she was consenting, there wasn’t a question.”
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Slowthai left the court with his wife, the pop star Anne-Marie
Mr Frampton, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, was supported throughout the trial at Oxford Crown Court by his wife, the popstar Anne-Marie.
Defending Mr Frampton, Patrick Gibbs KC earlier told the court that his client would be “cancelled for the rest of time”, whatever the outcome of the trial.
In his closing remarks, Mr Gibbs said Slowthai “wasn’t everybody’s stereotype of a rapper”, adding he was a “thoughtful” and “modest” man who “throws himself, sometimes recklessly, into life”.
“Even if he [Mr Frampton] is acquitted, it [the allegations] will not leave him,” he added.
Judge Ian Pringle KC told court that the case had “raised a lot of high feelings”.
Mr Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south London, put his arm around his friend as the pair were told they could walk free from the the dock by Judge Pringle.
The men’s friends and family cheered loudly outside the courtroom following the verdicts.
The court heard that Slowthai’s shows were usually “energetic and intense”
The trial heard that Mr Frampton had got his nickname during his youth in Northampton, where he was known to talk slowly and often stutter.
He has released three albums, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021. He was also nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2019.
The rapper was removed from the line-up of Glastonbury Festival, as well as Reading and Leeds, after he was charged in 2023.
Mr Frampton’s co-defendant Alex Blake-Walker, 27, was also cleared on all counts.
Sheryl Nwosu, defending Mr Blake-Walker, said in her closing remarks that the evidence put forward by the crown did not “fit with Mr Blake-Walker and his behaviour on the night”.
She said that her “trustworthy” client believed the complainant had been “fully consenting” to the sexual acts.
Mr Blake-Walker had a budding career as an actor and musician, but had been almost completely out of work since the incident, Ms Nwosu added.
