Jane Doe
Event Date: August, 2002
Bruise: Sexual Assault
Location: Off Europe
Age: 14
Home Town: UK
Cruise Line: P & O Cruises
Cruise Ship: Sundream
Details:
The trip to the Baltics had been booked by the teenager's mother to help the family get over the recent death of her husband.
A court hearing began yesterday to extradite the three waiters to the Bahamas, which has jurisdiction as the alleged attack took place in international waters and the ship is registered there.
Outside court, the girl's mother accused Airtours, the company responsible for the GBP 1,700 booking aboard the 23,000-ton Sundream, of not doing enough to help them.
'We went on the cruise after the girls' father died the month beforehand and it was supposed to help them get over their father's death.
The two-week cruise from Harwich to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Estonia took place last August.
The girl is said to have been attacked by Roy Fernandes, 25, Charles Fernandes, 28 - who is not related - and Anthony Travasso,
29. James Lewis, QC, acting for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, told Bow Street Magistrates Court in London: 'She was offered an alcoholic drink and Charles Fernandes began kissing her without her consent.
'Next, Roy Fernandes raped her and finally Anthony Travasso raped her.'
He said Travasso and Roy Fernandes admitted to being in the cabin but said they did not have sexual intercourse with the girl. Charles Fernandes admitted to having sexual contact but said he believed the girl was 16.
When the teenager raised the alarm, the three waiters were confined to their cabins for the rest of the cruise.
For a further week, until the vessel docked at Harwich and the men were arrested, the mother and her two daughters had to stay on the ship. They were advised there might be language problems if they reported the matter when the ship docked in Estonia.
Bernard Swift, a security officer for the ship who travelled from the Mediterranean to give evidence, said he had interviewed the three men on the night of the incident as well as four or five others who witnessed it.
'As a result of what they told me, it was quite clear that they breached ship's rules by allowing passengers into their quarters,' he said.
The girl's mother said she had not attended school since the cruise and had to go to a sexual diseases clinic to have injections against hepatitis and to be checked for HIV infection.
Bow Street Magistrates Court, in London, was told the trip had been booked by the girl's mother after the recent death of her husband. The family embarked on the cruise, booked with Airtours, through Scandinavia and the Baltic states in August last year.
Charles Fernandes has admitted sexual contact with the girl but said he believed she was 16. The other two defendants admit being in the cabin but deny sexual intercourse with the teenager.
The court heard a used condom found in the cabin where the rape is said to have taken place still has to be tested for DNA evidence. All three defendants were granted bail until an extradition hearing on June 24, 2003. No further word on the case has become available
Child Alleges Sexual Assaul By Crew
Three Crew Members Named In Sex Attack
P & O Sun Dream - August, 2002
