Scarborough rape trial: Woman who claims Alberto Nicoletti, Vincenzo Mineo raped her in toilet gives evidence

The woman allegedly raped by two men in a Scarborough Beach toilet has told a court she “felt terrified” and was “in shock” because she thought the pair were gay. She also told Alberto Nicoletti and Vincenzo Mineo’s trial she never asked to leave the cubicle because she didn’t “think she could fight them” off. Mr Nicoletti and Mr Mineo are on trial in the WA District Court accused of raping the woman in the public toilets near the beach on March 14, 2021. They are also each facing another rape charge over separate incidents with two different women who they met on the same night. They deny the charges. Mr Nicoletti is also defending allegations he sexually assaulted six other women between 2016 and 2020. The court was told the young woman had been on a wine tour during the day with friends when they were dropped off at The Lookout in Scarborough around 5pm. She testified that she had drunk around 10 drinks on the tour and bought another four drinks at the venue and while she couldn’t remember every detail of that night, she recalled dancing for most of it and being approached by two Italian men. She told the court the first man introduced himself as Alberto then introduced the other male as his boyfriend — whom she later learned was called Vincenzo. She claimed that after talking to the pair they told her they were going to take cocaine and said she could go with them. “I don’t recall agreeing to going with them,” she said. “I remember both males grabbed me on both sides of my arms, not aggressive or anything or because I was intoxicated. It was in a friendly manner.” She told the court she thought they were going to the toilets inside the venue, then recalled heading to the exit and Mr Nicoletti showing her pictures of his restaurant. The next thing she recalled was being inside the cubicle on the foreshore and the men snorting cocaine off their hands. She said she didn’t recall being offered or consuming any cocaine herself. However, the court was told blood tests taken after the alleged incident showed the woman did have cocaine in her system. When asked about this by Mr Nicoletti’s lawyer, the woman said the only way it could have gotten into her system was by “having my drink spiked”. “My guard was down,” she added. “I thought they were gay. I didn’t think there was any danger of being taken advantage of”. The woman then told the court Mr Mineo started kissing her and that she felt “surprised and confused”. “It contradicted what I thought I knew about them being gay,” she said. “I started kissing back… it wasn’t that I wanted to… It didn’t last very long. Then Alberto started kissing me on my neck.” The woman then recalled her top being removed before both men allegedly raped her. When asked if she consented to this, she responded “no”. She also told the court at one point she remembered asking Mr Mineo to put his condom on properly telling the jury that she felt that if she was “going to get assaulted, I didn’t want to catch an STI. I wanted to keep myself as safe as I could.” After the alleged incident the woman said she went back to The Lookout to find her friends, and while she can’t remember what she told them, she did remember speaking to security about what she claims happened to her. The court was told the security guard then flagged down police on patrol and that the woman went to Joondalup Health Campus that evening. The trial continues. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)