Britain's Got Talent star 'gripped victims throats' as he raped two women, court hears

Daily Mirror

24-04-2025

A former Britain's Got Talent star allegedly raped two women just months apart. A court has heard how Andrew Johnston, 30, was studying at the Royal Academy of Music when the incidents took place. The former choirboy was 13 when he finished on Britain's Got Talent in second place.
He subsequently went on to land a £1million recording contract with Syco Music – owned by Simon Cowell. The court heard how Johnston allegedly gripped his victims by their throat during sex – and refused to wear a condom. Johnston denies two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The former singer who was studying for a two year diploma in opera at the prestigious music college wore a black suit as he listened to Maryam Syed, prosecuting. Syed told the court: "Mr Johnston competed as a singer in the television programme Britain's Got Talent, and he did quite well in that programme.
"At the time of the allegations Mr Johnston was a student at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London. Mr Johnston was competing a two year diploma in opera." Describing the first alleged account, the prosecutor said: "The defendant removed the condom he had been wearing and the complainant noticed the change in sensation.
"She repeatedly told Mr Johnston to stop having sex with her but he made no attempt to withdraw his penis. The complainant then described to police that Mr Johnston then, she says, placed one hand on her neck and the other was pinning her down.
"She repeatedly told Mr Johnston on multiple occasions to stop, she managed to free her hands and slam them onto her chest. She told police that she began panicking and he, Mr Johnston, was not listening to her." The prosecutor added: "She then goes on to describe, as you will see that the defendant Mr Johnston became more forceful, slamming the headboard into the wall."
Syed told the court that the complainant "explained to Johnston from the outset" that she didn't like certain things during sex because of bad experiences. "She specifically said things like hands around the throat."
Johnston allegedly "groped" a woman's bum at a bar in central London just three months later, the court heard. Syed added: "Whilst he was there he had groped her bottom, which we say is sexual touching, dragged her by the arm and had refused to leave.
"In order to help her move him she had walked him out of the bar onto the street. At that point, he continued touching her, he verbally abused her, he grabbed her shoulders and her forcibly kissed her on the lips." Syed later told the court that the singer had raped the second complainant after taking her to a "sex club" in London.
"She explained that she had asked the defendant to wear a condom which she had provided and she said the vaginal intercourse took place immediately with almost no foreplay," Syed told the court. She added: "She described how she started to feel the defendant's hands around her neck, and no matter how many times she removed them, she said the defendant Mr Johnston kept on putting his hands back around her throat.
"She made, she told police, multiple attempts to remove his hands but he did not remove them. He then stopped and removed the condom." Johnston is said to have continued having unprotected sex with the women. He denies the charges.
The trial continues.