Paramedic who claimed he was an archangel found guilty of raping teenage girl

An ambulance waiting outside a hospital in London.
Stuart Gray had been a paramedic for 20 years, the court heard. Credit: PA

A paramedic who told a jury he was the Archangel Michael has been convicted of raping a teenage girl after sexually abusing her when she was under-age.

The court heard that Stuart Gray told his victim that she was an angel too, and that his crimes against her were "saving her life".

Gray, aged 60, of Beehive Lane, Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, was convicted of raping the victim when she was aged over 16.

The jury at St Albans Crown Court was told he had already admitted charges of sexual activity with a child aged 13 to 15 dating to 10 years ago.

Gray told the jury: “She was 13. I was 50. I am thoroughly disgusted and ashamed of myself and I need to be punished for what I have done.”

He admitted kissing the girl, having her give him oral sex and sexual touching when she was under 16.

He also admitted taking sexual pictures and videos of her and secretly recording in the bathroom.

The jury heard he had covertly filmed up women's skirts and was found with downloaded indecent images of children on his computer.

But he denied raping her, saying: “She consented. I would not have gone forward if I had thought otherwise.”

Gray, who is podcaster, blogger and author of a book about being a paramedic, told a jury earlier in the trial:  "All my life  I have believed there are angels on earth in human form."

His barrister Sean Minihan asked him: "You told people you believe you are an angel?"

Gray replied: "That’s correct. I firmly believe I had an alter-ego called Michael that helped me through life."

The victim, who is now in her 20s, told the court: "He believed the end of the world was near. He talked about the four angels of the apocalypse."

She said he had an entire folder of material about various conspiracy theories.

Gray, a paramedic of 20 years who worked for the London Ambulance Service, told her that she, one of her relatives and two of his relatives were all angels.

"I believed he genuinely believed what he was telling me", his victim said.

Gray will be sentenced on 1 September.


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