NHS nurse died of heart attack 'caused by stranger raping her repeatedly', court hears

Jurors at the Old Bailey heard that Natalie Shotter was "deeply unconscious" when she was raped on a park bench on which she subsequently died in Southall Park, west London

An NHS nurse died from a heart attack when she was repeatedly raped by a stranger who was "seeking out a vulnerable woman", a court has heard.

Natalie Shotter, 37, was sexually assaulted and killed on a park bench while unconscious in a horrific incident that took place after she had enjoyed herself on a night out in 2021. Her body was discovered the morning after on July 17, the Old Bailey heard when a trial opened this week, with Mohamed Iidow, 35, on trial for her alleged rape and manslaughter.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told jurors on Friday that Ms Shotter had died of a heart attack caused by Iidow raping her “again and again” on the bench in Southall Park, west London, where she had been sitting previously with a different man. CCTV footage shows the nurse sitting with the other, unidentified man on a bench as Iidow walks past before the alleged attack took place.

He then left the park, drove away in his car, and returned, jurors heard, with Ms Shotter lying down, showing “no clear movement” for around half an hour before the defendant approached her “nonchalantly”, Ms Morgan said. She said that, during the alleged attack, the victim had been "deeply unconscious".

The prosecutor said: “What was the defendant doing there, what was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night and thinking about what his objectives must have been – seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape." Jurors were shown CCTV in which the prosecution said the defendant could be seen repositioning Ms Shotter's body as he raped her.

Ms Morgan told jurors: “The prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her by this defendant. She was not dead at the time when the defendant was orally raping her, it will be a matter for you to consider – that this defendant went to the park for a reason.

“He would not have sought to have sex with a dead body for over 15 minutes, he was having sex with someone he knew was alive but was deeply unconscious and therefore he was raping her.” Jurors were told that after the alleged attack, the defendant drove back to his home in Hounslow, west London, via a Shell garage where he stopped to buy cat food and mouthwash.

Swabs taken from Ms Shotter’s mouth area matched DNA samples taken from the defendant, the court heard. Iidow has denied the charges against him and the trial was adjourned until Monday.