'Doctor Strange' star Zara Phythian and husband accused of having sex with 13-year-old girl
Warning: This article contains information about sexual abuse and grooming that could cause trauma for some readers. Discretion is advised
Zara Phythian who appeared in 'Doctor Strange' with Benedict Cumberbatch has been accused of numerous sexual offences along with her husband Victor Marke. The girl, who is now an adult, told police that the couple allegedly filmed most of the abuse in an attempt to recreate pornographic scenes. She claims Phythian, 36, and Marke, 59, plied her with alcohol and had sex with her between 2005 and 2008 when she was a minor.
Jurors at Nottingham Crown Court also heard the woman, who was aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the alleged abuse, describe the details of the sexual offences before the Phythian and Marke were married. The court was told that Marke was married to a woman called Juliet when the abuse started. The victim alleged the first offences happened after the couple gave her alcohol to drink, and Phythian dared her to give Marke oral sex. She also alleged that Marke then had sex with both of them. “I knew it was wrong but I just didn’t know how to get out of the situation or say anything,” she told cops. “I remember trying to copy Zara’s reaction at the time because I looked up to her and tried to be like her in every way.”
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As the abuse continued, she said Marke threatened to smash her kneecaps if she told anyone. "He just said nobody would believe me if I told them anyway," she told police."They always had a power over me." As a child she also felt like she was being "coached" by Phythian to get better at the sexual activity, the court was told. She said Marke had sex with her about 20 times on different occasions. The woman had told police she was groomed and sexually touched by Marke of Ravenshead. After she turned 16, he is alleged to have had sex with her.
The couple were both martial arts instructors in Nottinghamshire at the time, and the woman told police she had looked up to Phythian because of her martial arts success. Phythian would have been 20 or 21 years old when the alleged abuse started and Marke would have been 42 or 43. Marke faces four allegations, all denied, of indecent assault on another woman who was 15 at the time between 2002 and 2003. He is also jointly charged with his wife, Phythian, of 14 denied allegations of sexual activity with a different woman who was a girl at the time.
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Phythian describes herself as an actress, martial arts instructor and stunt performer. She is also known to have worked in 'Accident Man 2', 'Tribal Get Out Alive'. She portrayed Brunette Zealot in the Marvel film,