Former Championship star facing jail time after being found guilty of raping a woman he met on a night out while she was asleep

A former Championship footballer is facing jail after being convicted of raping a drunk woman as she slept. 

Oluwasanmi Odelusi, 31, who played for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, MK Dons and Coventry City before his 2020 retirement, assaulted the 27-year-old during her trip to London from the United States in November 2021, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. 

Prosecuting, Charles Evans said the victim was attacked as she slept in her bed in an Airbnb after meeting Odelusi and a friend on a night out. 

Odelusi was found guilty by the jury by a ten to two majority and subsequently released on conditional bail ahead of his sentence in May. 

‘A sleeping person cannot give consent. It is that simple,’ said Mr Evans. 

‘It is not the Crown’s case that the complainant was too intoxicated to consent, but it is the Crown’s case that her intoxication certainly contributed to the circumstances whereby the defendant was able to rape the sleeping complainant.’

The 31-year-old was found guilty by the jury by a ten to two majority and subsequently released on conditional bail ahead of his sentence in May

Odelusi denied the accusation and insisted the victim was awake and had consented.  

The prosecutor told the court how the victim came into contact with Odelusi while out clubbing in London in 2021. 

‘They stayed in an Airbnb flat with three bedrooms in Shoreditch, east London, and on the evening of Friday November 26 decided to go clubbing,’ Mr Evans said. ‘The complainant had a friend in London she wanted to meet so they all went to Reign nightclub in Piccadilly.

‘The complainant couldn’t remember how many shots of tequila she had but says that she did have quite a few.

‘They then went to the club in Piccadilly, arriving there some time after midnight. More alcohol was consumed and the complainant was feeling drunk but not to the point of blacking out.’

One of the victim’s friends kissed Ryan Sellers, a footballer friend of Odelusi’s. They subsequently invited the two men back to their accommodation. The victim said her memory ‘let her down a little’ due to the alcohol consumption and could not recall much of the taxi ride home but she could clearly remember the rape. 

Odelusi had consensual sex with the victim’s friend after he had been invited into her bed. After some time she asked him to stop, which he did, the court heard. He then went into the victim’s room and raped her at about 6am.

She woke up and realised someone was having sex with her but was unable to speak. Odelusi returned to the friend’s room as the victim went back to sleep, the court heard. 

Odelusi denied the accusation and insisted the victim was awake and had consented

Mr Evans said the victim awoke at 11 am and felt confused. She told another female friend about the rape later the same day, the court was told.

The victim was interviewed by Metropolitan Police officers in the United States. 

Defending Claire Cooper, told the court the victim had shown interest in Odelusi in the taxi and had shown him her Instagram account and he complimented her pictures, but they ‘did not add each other.’

She said: ‘He was shocked and surprised when he was asked to attend the police station.

‘He cooperated with the police. He was not been proud of himself after sleeping with both women, but his actions were not of someone who was guilty of rape.’