UK rapper Slowthai to face trial after denying rape charges

Rapper Slowthai will go on trial after denying rape charges.

The 28-year-old, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, entered his pleas during a brief hearing at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

He is accused of raping a woman twice on 8 September, 2021.

Co-accused Alex Blake-Walker, 25, pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the woman Frampton is accused of raping during the same alleged incident.

Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south London, also denied charges of rape and sexual assault against a second complainant.

A trial is due to take place on 1 July and is expected to last for two weeks.

Judge Michael Gledhill KC released the two defendants on conditional bail until their trial.

Slowthai, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, was nominated for a Grammy award in 2021 and Mercury prize in 2019.

He has won gongs at the NME Awards and UK Music Video Awards.

The musician has recently withdrawn from a scheduled performance at Wembley Stadium alongside Britpop band Blur and Self Esteem at the show on 8 July.

He has also removed from the line-up of Glastonbury Festival, which runs from 21 June until 25 June and Reading and Leeds Festival which takes place at the end of August.

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