A 22-year-old man accused of physically and sexually assaulting a woman who was described by Barron Trump as a “very close” pal has claimed he was not angry or jealous, but rather “emotional and very exhausted” during the incident.
Matvei Rumiantcev is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court for the alleged attack, which occurred in the early hours of January 18 last year. The court heard that US President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron, had phoned 999 to report seeing the woman “getting beaten up” during a FaceTime call.
Jurors were told that Rumiantcev answered the call from Barron and turned the camera to the woman’s face, before allegedly grabbing her hair and pushing her to the floor while yelling “You are not worth anything.” The woman claims he then strangled her, called her derogatory names, and kicked her in the stomach.
However, Rumiantcev has told the court that the woman’s phone was “constantly buzzing” with FaceTime calls from Barron that day, and he only answered the call later that night in an attempt to bring her back to her senses after she became hysterical and started attacking him.
“I don’t know why I did that, maybe I thought she would realise that her behaviour was unreasonable, (that) she wouldn’t behave like this in front of someone else, especially Barron Trump,” Rumiantcev said.
The prosecutor, Serena Gates, suggested to Rumiantcev that he attacked the woman because he was “upset and angry” by her ongoing contact with Barron Trump. But Rumiantcev denied this, stating that he was not trying to demonstrate anything to Barron, and that he did not intentionally hit the woman in the face at any point.
Rumiantcev, a Russian citizen who lives in Canary Wharf, east London, denies charges of assault, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, perverting the course of justice, and two counts of rape. His trial continues.
