Man convicted of multiple rapes of another man

A man has been convicted of multiple rapes of another man.  

Derek Rowley, 45, and the victim met on Grindr and arranged to meet at Rowley’s home in Gillingham, Kent for sex and to take drugs in May 2024.  This is known as “chem sex”.  They took GHB, crystal meth and ketamine.  

During this time, the victim became seriously unwell and made no movements, appearing to be unconscious. Despite this, CCTV footage from the bedroom showed that Rowley squirted liquid, believed to be a drug called GHB, into the victim’s mouth and continued to have sex with him, even though the victim was incapable of consenting. 

The victim never regained consciousness.  Rowley continued to have sex with him.  At some point, the victim died and Rowley only called the emergency services sometime after the evidence suggested the victim had died. 

Libby Clark, Specialist Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This is a deeply shocking case, which led to the untimely death of a man. It would have been clear to anyone that the victim was seriously unwell for a number of hours before his death. 

“Despite the fact that the man was unconscious and clearly unable to consent to any sexual activity, Rowley was completely callous and showed absolutely no concern for his welfare, instead repeatedly raping him. 

“Even once the man had died, Rowley failed to take action for hours.

“Despite Rowley’s claims that he believed the victim was consenting,  the jury saw through what he was saying and convicted him of a series of rapes on a man clearly unable to consent in any way to any form of sexual activity.”