In 2016, Zara Phythian starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange. Now the actress – like her husband – has to go to prison for several years. The court finds it proven that the couple repeatedly sexually abused a teenager.
Stuntwoman and actress Zara Phythian, who starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Mads Mikkelsen in Marvel blockbuster Doctor Strange, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. The British court responsible for this, Nottingham Crown Court, handed down the sentence on Monday after finding that Phythian and her husband Victor Marke had repeatedly sexually abused a teenager. This is reported by “BBC News”.
The crimes took place between 2005 and 2008, when the victim, who is now an adult, was between 13 and 15 years old. According to the BBC, the woman testified that the couple filmed most of the abuse. The 36-year-old Phythian and the 23-year-old brand were not yet married and worked as martial arts teachers. The accuser said she looked up to her trainer at the time. The couple took her when she was 13, gave her alcohol and abused her.
Marke is said to have threatened to smash her kneecaps if she told anyone about it. “He said that nobody would believe me anyway if I told them. That’s why they always had a power over me.” Zara Phythian and her husband had always denied the allegations.
Victor Marke has now even been sentenced to 14 years in prison. He also abused a 15-year-old girl without his wife’s help. In addition, according to Judge Mark Watson, he was the driving force behind the crimes.
“BBC News” quoted Watson as saying: “In light of the evidence I have heard, I have no doubt that her abnormal behavior was shaped by the influence Marke had on her from a young age.” At the time of the first act together, Zara Phythian was only 20 years old.
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