'Fifty Shades' session: man accused (From Andover Advertiser)
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'Fifty Shades' session: man accused
1:26pm Tuesday 22nd January 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013
A woman was injured in role play inspired by erotic best-seller Fifty Shades of Grey, a court heard
A "master-slave" sex session inspired by erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey overstepped the boundaries of fantasy, leaving a woman injured, a court has heard.
Steven Lock, 43, and a woman in her forties, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began a relationship based around sadomasochistic role play after meeting on a dating website.
They took part in group sex and bondage together and the alleged victim had the words "Property of Steven Lock" tattooed around her genitals, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
The woman also signed a contract promising Lock free use of her body and entitling him to lash her if she did not follow his rules.
But prosecutors allege that last August the fantasy went too far as Lock chained the woman to his bedroom floor and whipped her repeatedly with a rope.
She suffered bruising to the buttocks and neck.
Asked by defence counsel Roger Thomson if he and the alleged victim had read Fifty Shades Of Grey, Lock replied: "That's where we got the idea from."
Lock, of Plover Road, Ipswich, denies assault causing actual bodily harm, saying the woman consented to the bondage.
Mr Thomson told jurors that Lock accepted he had caused the woman harm but compared the situation to a football match in which all parties have agreed to take part.
He said: "The issue is did she consent and did Mr Lock believe that she consented. Is this an assault any more than a mistimed tackle in football? Fifty Shades Of Grey is not a manual: it's a work of fiction and this is a case which demonstrates that things can go wrong."
