A gardener repeatedly beat his lover during a Fifty Shades of
Grey-inspired sadomasochistic sex session because she didn’t use a ‘code
word’ for him to stop, a court heard today.
Steven Lock told Ipswich Crown Court that he and the unnamed woman
had been planning to engage in slave/master sex for several months after
they both read EL James’ hit book.The 43-year-old says they had
agreed to use the code-word ‘red’ if either of them felt uncomfortable
during the bondage session and claims he only continued beating the
woman because she did not use it.
The court heard how the pair had previously taken part in threesomes and bondage sessions after meeting on a dating website.
Lock, who denies assaulting the woman causing actual bodily harm, claims the woman was consenting and they both fully understood what was going to happen.
The woman signed a contract promising Lock free use of her body and entitling him to lash her if she did not follow his rules.
He also claimed it was her idea to get a tattoo saying, 'This is the property of Steven Lock' around her genitals.
Asked by defence counsel Roger Thomson if he and the alleged victim had read Fifty Shades of Grey, Lock replied: “That's where we got the idea from.”
Mr Thomson told jurors that Lock accepted he had caused the woman harm but compared the situation to a football match in which all parties have agreed to take part.
He said: “The issue is did she consent and did Mr Lock believe that she consented.
”Is this an assault any more than a mistimed tackle in football?
“Fifty Shades Of Grey is not a manual: it's a work of fiction and this is a case which demonstrates that things can go wrong.”
Prosecutors claim Lock put a rope around the woman’s neck and pulled it tight, padlocked her to a chain fastened to his bedroom floor and struck her 14 times with the rope, causing bruises to her neck and buttocks and leaving her screaming in pain.
They claim that after the beating the pair had sex, before Lock left the woman chained up while he used his computer.
While bound, the woman claims to have sent a text message to a friend asking for help and saying she had been 'chained up and whipped like a dog'.
She reportedly sent the friend a picture of the chain on one of her wrists and asked him to call the police.
She claims Lock then gave her the padlock key but told her to leave after she refused to get into his bed.
Police officers saw the woman in a distressed state in the street as they made their way to Lock's home.
The woman told the court: “I knew there would be pain involved and I knew I wasn't going to like it but I'd agreed to it and had to follow it through.”
Lock denied putting a rope round the woman’s neck and pulling it tight, but accepted that he had put a chain round the woman's wrist.
Mr Thomson said Lock felt bad about what he had done.
Giving evidence, Lock said: “It was supposed to be kinky fun, I didn't want her to cry.”
Prosecutor Duncan O'Donnell told jurors: “It was part of a master-slave fantasy and she went there expecting a fantasy when Mr Lock wanted reality.
”She may have expected some playful spanking, to be hit lightly perhaps, but she received a lashing with a rope.“
The jury of 10 men and two women retired to consider its verdict this morning.
Judge David Goodin told them: ”You may or may not be familiar with the best-selling work of fiction which has spawned both sequels and imitations.
“What you are concerned with is whether or not the prosecution has proved that the defendant committed a criminal offence.”
The trial continues.
The court heard how the pair had previously taken part in threesomes and bondage sessions after meeting on a dating website.
Lock, who denies assaulting the woman causing actual bodily harm, claims the woman was consenting and they both fully understood what was going to happen.
The woman signed a contract promising Lock free use of her body and entitling him to lash her if she did not follow his rules.
He also claimed it was her idea to get a tattoo saying, 'This is the property of Steven Lock' around her genitals.
Asked by defence counsel Roger Thomson if he and the alleged victim had read Fifty Shades of Grey, Lock replied: “That's where we got the idea from.”
Mr Thomson told jurors that Lock accepted he had caused the woman harm but compared the situation to a football match in which all parties have agreed to take part.
He said: “The issue is did she consent and did Mr Lock believe that she consented.
”Is this an assault any more than a mistimed tackle in football?
“Fifty Shades Of Grey is not a manual: it's a work of fiction and this is a case which demonstrates that things can go wrong.”
Prosecutors claim Lock put a rope around the woman’s neck and pulled it tight, padlocked her to a chain fastened to his bedroom floor and struck her 14 times with the rope, causing bruises to her neck and buttocks and leaving her screaming in pain.
They claim that after the beating the pair had sex, before Lock left the woman chained up while he used his computer.
While bound, the woman claims to have sent a text message to a friend asking for help and saying she had been 'chained up and whipped like a dog'.
She reportedly sent the friend a picture of the chain on one of her wrists and asked him to call the police.
She claims Lock then gave her the padlock key but told her to leave after she refused to get into his bed.
Police officers saw the woman in a distressed state in the street as they made their way to Lock's home.
The woman told the court: “I knew there would be pain involved and I knew I wasn't going to like it but I'd agreed to it and had to follow it through.”
Lock denied putting a rope round the woman’s neck and pulling it tight, but accepted that he had put a chain round the woman's wrist.
Mr Thomson said Lock felt bad about what he had done.
Giving evidence, Lock said: “It was supposed to be kinky fun, I didn't want her to cry.”
Prosecutor Duncan O'Donnell told jurors: “It was part of a master-slave fantasy and she went there expecting a fantasy when Mr Lock wanted reality.
”She may have expected some playful spanking, to be hit lightly perhaps, but she received a lashing with a rope.“
The jury of 10 men and two women retired to consider its verdict this morning.
Judge David Goodin told them: ”You may or may not be familiar with the best-selling work of fiction which has spawned both sequels and imitations.
“What you are concerned with is whether or not the prosecution has proved that the defendant committed a criminal offence.”
The trial continues.
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