Judge speaks of need for 'objective' juries as student convicted of rape in Portsmouth
A student from Saudi Arabia was found guilty of raping a woman who he met in a nightclub
A judge has spoken of the need for juries to provide "objectivity" in crown court trials as a student from Saudi Arabia was found guilty of raping a woman who he met in a Portsmouth nightclub.
Waleed Alharbi, 26, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court of the rape and attempted rape of the woman aged in her 30s at his student accommodation in Greetham Street, in the early hours of June 28 2025.
Thanking the jury that sat on a rape trial, Judge Jane Miller KC, who is sitting in retirement, said: "Those of us who sit in this court think the only way cases like this could be tried is by a jury and not just these types of cases.
"We think a jury brings an objectivity to cases like these which those involved in cases like this all the time cannot do."
The judge adjourned the case for sentencing to be held on December 9 and remanded the defendant in custody until then.
She asked for the complainant to be given the opportunity to provide a victim impact statement to assist her with sentencing.
The judge said: "It's highly necessary to know the degree of psychological harm that she suffered and particularly is still suffering because her reaction giving evidence here suggests she as a significant degree of psychological harm."
Mike Mason, prosecuting, told the jury that the defendant had met the complainant at the Astoria nightclub before they had left together and he carried her part of the way to his flat because she was "very drunk".
Inside the flat, Alharbi had attempted to rape the woman in the shower before he raped her in his bedroom while restraining her, the court heard.
Mr Mason said: "The defendant pushed (the complainant) on to the bed and he put his hand on to her mouth and tried to take her clothes off."
He said that the complainant went into the bathroom and as Alharbi followed, she said to him: "Do not come in" and "I want to go home".
He said that Alharbi then pushed the complainant down in the shower area and turned it on before he attempted to rape her and said she was "crying and screaming".
The prosecutor said that the complainant believed she had banged her head and passed out and woke up to find the defendant raping her on his bed.
He added: "She was trying to resist him and he was pushing and restraining her, when he was doing this she was saying: 'No, no, do not do this'."
Mr Mason said that afterwards the defendant accompanied her out of the apartment, but she was so weak that she had to sit down in the lift.
He added that Alharbi left on a scooter, leaving the complainant outside "sitting on the floor crying".
Mr Mason said that DNA evidence linked the defendant to sperm found in the complainant's vagina.
Alharbi had denied the offences and told the jury that the sex had been consensual.
He told the court that he worked as an airport maintenance manager in Saudi Arabia while studying for a finance degree at a university in the Middle Eastern country.