Julia Rawson murder trial: Accused 'raped and threatened second woman'

Nathan Maynard-Ellis and his boyfriend David Leesley allegedly took the dismembered remains of Julia Rawson to a canal near their home

A man accused of murdering and dismembering a woman in his flat raped a second victim and threatened to kill her, a court has heard.

Nathan Maynard-Ellis, 30, from Tipton, "fantasised about the violent sexualised killing of women" and denies murdering Julia Rawson in May 2019.

Jurors heard he raped another woman by a West Midlands canal telling her where he would put her body if he killed her.

Mr Maynard-Ellis denies rape, attempted rape and making threats to kill.

The allegations were made by the woman, who cannot be indentified, after his arrest last year, Coventry Crown Court heard.

She said she was walking by the canal when she was attacked by Mr Maynard-Ellis, a serial killer obsessive and horror film fan.

Julia Rawson was allegedly murdered Mr Maynard-Ellis' flat which was filled with 'gory' horror film masks, jurors were told

In a police interview recorded last year and played to jurors on Thursday, she said he pointed out a specific location near the canal.

"Bloodstained carpet"

"He said he wanted to show me something," she said.

"He suddenly went from being calm... and said if he kills me that's where he will put my body."

The woman said she was then raped by Mr Maynard-Ellis after he made her remove some of her clothing.

Ms Rawson, 42, from Dudley, West Midlands, was last seen alive on 12 May last year.

She allegedly met the defendant by chance in a pub in Dudley and was lured to his "gory flat of horrors" in Tipton that he shared with his boyfriend, 25-year-old David Leesley.

The pair are accused of later carrying her dismembered body parts to a canal to dispose of them after killing her. Both men deny her murder.

Jurors were told on Thursday that Mr Maynard-Ellis has admitted concealment of a corpse and perverting the course of justice by replacing bloodstained carpet and underlay at his flat.

Mr Leesley has admitted the same charges, although he does not accept "any element of dismemberment".

The trial continues.