Two women who say they were raped and strangled by the controversial social media influencer, Andrew Tate, have spoken to the BBC about their experiences.
Another woman has alleged, for the first time, she was raped by Mr Tate’s younger brother, Tristan – also an influencer with millions of followers.
The Tate brothers, aged 37 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape.
If found guilty, the two men could be jailed for more than 10 years. They strongly deny the charges against them.
- Warning: Contains distressing content and descriptions of sexual violence
Andrew Tate is currently under house arrest in Romania. In addition to the charges he already faces, prosecutors are considering new allegations against him, including having sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons. Both brothers are also being investigated for trafficking 34 more women.
Now, two British women not involved with the Romanian case against the Tate brothers, have given detailed first-hand accounts to the BBC, against Andrew Tate, of alleged rape and sexual violence. The allegations date back at least 10 years, to when Mr Tate was living in Luton.
Another British woman has made a new allegation of rape against Tristan Tate, saying he put his put his hands around her throat as he did so.
Anna (not her real name) told us she went out with Andrew Tate in Luton in 2013. After a few dates, she says she went back to his house.
“He started kissing me… and he just looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘I’m just debating whether I should rape you or not. Out of the blue he just grabbed me by the throat, smashed me to the back of the bed, strangling me extremely hard.”
Anna says he then raped her.
She says after the attack, Mr Tate sent her disturbing text messages and voice notes about rape and sexual violence.
“Am I a bad person? Because the more you didn’t like it, the more I enjoyed it,” he said in a voice note.
In a text he wrote: “I love raping you.”
Anna says he also tried to pass the strangulation episode off as a joke: “Are you seriously so offended I strangled you a little bit?”
When the BBC asked him about the messages, Mr Tate declined to comment.
In 2014, Anna told Bedfordshire Police about the alleged attack. Two other women made similar allegations, and a police investigation started.
In 2019, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it was decided there was not enough evidence to bring charges.
(BBC News)