Boss, 32, is accused of raping woman at his Notting Hill flat

A digital marketing boss accused of raping a woman at his Notting Hill flat will have to wait until next August for his retrial, a court heard.

South African Edward Love, 32, allegedly forced himself on his date at his home in Portobello Road after she refused to have sex with him unless he wore a condom.

But Love insisted the woman ‘enjoyed rough sex’ and he told jurors at Southwark Crown Court: ‘I know what consent is.’

Love and the complainant met after a boozy night out in Notting Hill on August 21, 2020, and went back to the woman’s apartment where they had consensual sex.

After a couple of days messaging the pair arranged to meet again two days later.

Jurors heard how Love had invited his date back to his flat before they quickly became intimate in his living room, with the woman sitting on his lap as they ‘kissed and cuddled’.

The alleged victim said Love began receiving messages from his flatmate telling them to keep it down.

‘I thought were not making much noise, we only had a glass of wine, we were whispering,’ she said.

The pair moved on into Love’s room when the victim asked if he had a condom, which he did not.

‘I said OK well I don’t want to do anything, lets just go to sleep,’ the victim said.

But the woman said within a matter of minutes Love began ‘touching my boobs, my a***, everywhere.

‘He got on top of me, he’s much bigger than me he is 6’2 and quite broad.’

Love, who works as an SEO manager for the fashion retail group TFG London, allegedly told the woman to ‘open your legs, open your legs’ before holding her arms down and raping her.

After a week-long trial the jury cleared Love of sexual assault and assault by penetration but failed to reach an agreement on the remaining charge of rape.

His retrial was scheduled for August 7, 2023, almost three years after the alleged offence.

Love, of Portobello Road, denies rape.