Ex-EFL and non league footballer facing jail time after being found guilty of raping woman

Ex-EFL and non league footballer Oluwasanmi Odelusi is facing jail time after being found guilty of raping a drunk woman as she slept.

The incident saw Sanmi Odelusi, 31, raping a woman, 27, who was visiting from the United States, the two meeting during a night out in London in November 2021.

As per the Daily Mail, she was asleep in an Airbnb in Shoreditch, East London with court told that the victim and her friends had been drinking heavily at a nightclub before returning to their accommodation with Odelusi and another man.

Prosecuting, Charles Evans said the victim was attacked as she was asleep in her bed in an Airbnb after she met Odelusi and a friend on a night out.

The jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court convicted him by a 10-to-2 majority. He was released on conditional bail and is scheduled for sentencing in May 2025.

Former Championship star facing jail time after being found guilty of raping a woman he met on a night out while she was asleep https://t.co/KZKfjYnvi4

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‘A sleeping person cannot give consent. It is that simple,’ said Mr Evans.

‘It is not the Crown’s case that the complainant was too intoxicated to consent, but it is the Crown’s case that her intoxication certainly contributed to the circumstances whereby the defendant was able to rape the sleeping complainant.’

Odelusi denied the accusation and insisted the victim was awake, not asleep, and had consented.

The prosecutor said to the court how the victim came into contact with Odelusi while out clubbing in London in 2021.

‘They stayed in an Airbnb flat with three bedrooms in Shoreditch, east London, and on the evening of Friday November 26 decided to go clubbing,’ Mr Evans said. ‘The complainant had a friend in London she wanted to meet so they all went to Reign nightclub in Piccadilly.

‘The complainant couldn’t remember how many shots of tequila she had but says that she did have quite a few.

‘They then went to the club in Piccadilly, arriving there some time after midnight. More alcohol was consumed and the complainant was feeling drunk but not to the point of blacking out.’

One of the victim’s friends kissed Ryan Sellers, a footballer friend of Odelusi’s and then invited the two men back to their accommodation.

The victim said her memory ‘let her down a little’ after their alcohol consumption and couldn’t remember much of the taxi journey on the way home but she could clearly remember the rape.

The daily Mail’s report go one to add that Odelusi had consensual sex with the victim’s friend after he had been invited into her bed. After some time she asked him to stop, which he did, the court heard. He then went into the victim’s room and raped her at about 6am.

She woke up and realised someone was having sex with her but was unable to speak, with Odelusi making his way back to the friend’s room as the victim then went back to sleep, the court heard.

Mr Evans said the victim wake up at 11 am, was left feeling confused, and said told another female friend about the rape later the same day.

The victim was interviewed by Metropolitan Police officers in the United States.

Defending Claire Cooper, said to the court that the victim had shown interest in Odelusi in the taxi and had shown him her Instagram account and he complimented her pictures, but they ‘did not add each other.’

She said: ‘He was shocked and surprised when he was asked to attend the police station.

‘He cooperated with the police. He was not been proud of himself after sleeping with both women, but his actions were not of someone who was guilty of rape.’

Sanmi Odelusi’s career:

Youth career
–2006 – Queens Park Rangers
2006–2009 – Reading
2009–2012 – Bolton Wanderers

Senior career
2012–2015 – Bolton Wanderers – 9 games (2 goals)
2014 → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) – 10 games (0 goals)
2014 → Coventry City (loan) – 14 games (3 goals)
2015–2017 – Wigan Athletic – 5 games (0 goals)
2016–2017 → Rochdale (loan) – 19 games (1 goal)
2017 → Blackpool (loan) – 9 games (1 goal)
2017 – Colchester United – 10 games (1 goal)
2018 – Cheltenham Town – 9 games (1 goals)
2018–2019 – Halifax Town
2019 – South Shields
2020 – Romford
2020 – Hayes & Yeading United

On Nee Year’s Eve 2019, Odelusi announced his retirement from football to pursue a career as a coach, but soon afterwards he signed for Romford appearing to reverse this situation.