A British Hollywood actress accused of sexually abusing a schoolgirl with her taekwondo “master” husband vowed to burn her alleged victim’s belongings as she said she no longer wanted to see the pair, like a court heard today.
Martial arts expert Zara Phythian, 36, from Mansfield, who starred in Marvel’s Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch, is charged in court with 14 counts of sexual activity with a child with her spouse Victor Marke, 59.
The couple arrived today for the second day of their trial at Nottingham Crown Court, where their alleged victim testified for the first time. She claims they groomed her as a 13-year-old girl and filmed themselves molesting her after dousing the victim with dark rum.
The woman, who was a child at the time of the alleged offences, said that when she was 18 she finally told a friend “her darkest secret” about the abuse and later called Zara and told the jury, “I said I wasn’t coming.” return. Zara said: “Don’t come back, I’ll burn all your things.”
Phythian, who starred in the 2016 Marvel film billed as Cumberbatch’s blockbuster breakthrough, is said to have targeted the branded teenager. The couple filmed most of the abuse to recreate their favorite porn scenes, prosecutors said. The attacks are said to have taken place between 2005 and 2008.
Today her alleged victim tearfully told the trial how years later she finally revealed what she described as her “darkest secret” when a police officer knocked on her mother’s door to say another girl had claimed she had Mark abused her and asked “if she knew anything”. ‘.
At the time, the court heard that black taekwondo belt Zara was enjoying “unprecedented personal and professional success” thanks to her acting career, including the role of the “brunette zealot” in Doctor Strange.
Speaking from behind a screen, the girl, who can’t be named for legal reasons, said she “never would have come forward” and planned to “die with my shame” – but had recently become a mother herself and felt “no”. “to have the option to speak my truth” to prevent anyone else from being attacked in the same way she has claimed.
“That was my deepest, darkest secret. I thought if I said anything my family would hate me. I really hated my mother back then. I got stuck because I had this secret and I couldn’t tell her.’
British actress Zara Phythian, right, who starred in Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch, left. She is now on trial for child abuse
Victor Marke and actress Zara Marke arrive at Nottingham Crown Court today for the second day of their child sex trial
Victor and Zara Marke, who are both now married, are accused of a series of serious sex crimes
Zara Phythian (pictured) is said to have shown the alleged victim how to perform a sexual act on her husband and then “dared” her to do so, the court heard
In an earlier videotaped interview that the alleged victim played to the jury, she opened up about how the Markes “exploited” her.
She said: “They saw the vulnerability in me and they took advantage of that and they saw that my mother was struggling and they took advantage of that. I found it quite difficult and they kind of guided me through everything (the sexual activity).
Referring to the alleged filming of the incidents, she added: “All I can remember is that he used to record.
“I don’t know what he did to them. I never saw her again. I didn’t want to see her. I was ashamed. It was a power they had over me.
“I never knew how to get out of this situation. I saw no way out.’
The alleged victim went on to claim that the Markes “made me drop out of college after six months,” adding, “You really ruined my education in a sense.”
The court has previously heard that Victor’s marriage fell apart around 2005 after he had an affair with Zara, who was a teenager herself at the time.
He also faces four other allegations of indecent assault on another teenager between 2002 and 2003, all of which have been denied.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the pair were sports coaches alongside Phythian’s acting career, who “demanded admiration and respect in the martial arts world”.
But prosecutor Ahmed Hossain QC said Marke, a taekwondo “master”, used his position of trust to “satisfy his sexual urges” by targeting the girl – with his wife acting “as part of that process”. The child also felt “coached” during the abuse of Phythian, the court was told.
Jurors were told the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was treated with rum the first time at the couple’s home before being “dared” by Zara, 36, to perform a sex act with Victor after he showed her how. Afterward, it was alleged that the brand abused the girl “once or twice a month” for the next three years and urged her “not to tell anyone.”
Marke is also charged with four other allegations of indecent assault on another teenager between 2002 and 2003, all of which have been denied.
Ms Phythian as Zealot in Doctor Strange with Mads Mikkelsen (left). She is also the star of a number of martial arts action films including Tribal: Get out Alive, with another film due out this year
The underage girl, who is now an adult, says Zara Phythian (pictured) and Victor Marke filmed the abuse to recreate pornographic scenes
Marke, 59, and Phythian, 36 – whose official name is now Zara Marke – are denying 14 charges of having sexual activity with a child.
In addition to being cast as the character Brunette Zealot in the Hollywood hit Doctor Strange, the actress has also appeared in a number of other films under her stage name Zara Phythian, with her latest action film, Accident Man 2, due out this year.
The jury was shown a video interview given to police by their alleged victim. In it, she described how she would stay at the Markes’ then-home in Arnold, Nottingham, where the couple “let her drink” even though she was only 13.
That’s where, she said, the abuse began. She told officers: “It was Captain Morgan’s dark rum. My mother didn’t like it when I drank. I wasn’t allowed to drink.
“Zara asked me if I wanted to play a game of Daring and started [performing a sex act on] Winner. She asked me to do the same.
“Then he took turns having sex with each of us.
“I was just trying to mimic Zara’s reactions and emotions, the sounds she was making. I had never gotten much attention from boys. I think I just liked the attention. It just kept going from there.’ The alleged victim, now in her late 20s, claimed the sexual activity continued “once or twice a month” until she was 16 – with Victor Marke, 59, who on a number of occasions asked her to record him and his wife, and she with others . She added: “I knew it was wrong but I didn’t know how to get out of the situation or say anything.
“I just did what they asked me to do. They made it look like I was a naughty child and they helped me. I just felt like there was no way out. They told me not to say anything.’
Marke, a “master” of taekwondo, used his position of trust to “satisfy his sexual urges” by targeting the girl – with his wife acting “as part of that process,” the jury was told at their trial
Nottingham Crown Court heard the pair were sports coaches alongside Phythian’s acting career, who “demanded admiration and respect in the martial arts world”.
She estimated that Marke, a very high level martial arts and taekwondo instructor, had sex with her about 20 times on separate occasions.
Phythian, who portrayed Brunette Zealot in the Marvel film, was “at the peak of her success,” said attorney Francis McGrath, representing Brand, the film star’s husband.
Mr McGrath referenced Phythian’s rise to fame when he questioned the woman who has claimed Marke repeatedly indecently assaulted her as a teenager.
He said: “Throughout 2016, as you would know from national media and social media posts, she (Zara brand) enjoyed unprecedented personal and professional success in a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
“On December 4, 2016, at the height of your success, you filed a complaint.”
This led to police videotaping of her allegations two days later.
The woman told the court “they are not connected” – when it was suggested she went to the police after “Zara Phythian” – someone from her youth – experienced the unprecedented success mentioned.
The woman had told police she had been groomed and sexually touched by Marke of Ravenshead. After she turned 16, he is said to have had sex with her.
The victim said she decided it was her responsibility to report the crime to the police because of her job.
She told the court that she was dealing with two cases of workplace safeguards, “matters that have been very difficult to handle and have taken a toll on me personally.”
After feeling like she couldn’t take “no more saying,” she decided to speak up.
Marke is facing four allegations, all denied, for historic indecent assaults on another woman, then 15, between 2002 and 2003.
He is also charged with his wife Phythian on 14 denied allegations of sexual activity with another woman, who was a girl at the time.
The process goes on.