[A] MAN accused of raping a woman has denied any wrongdoing and told a jury they had consensual sex.
Neil Bell, 51, went into the witness box at Carlisle Crown Court this afternoon (THURS). He is on trial having pleaded not guilty to an allegation that he raped the woman on October 17, 2015.
Giving evidence, Bell said he twice asked the woman whether she wanted to “make love”. Both times she answered “yes”, although he conceded on the second occasion she did so in a “mumbly” voice.
“She was smiling and happy,” he said. Of the brief sexual liaison, Bell stated: “I said ‘was that nice?’. She said ‘that’s awesome’.
His barrister, Kim Whittlestone, asked: “Would you have had sexual intercourse with her if you thought she wasn’t consenting to it?”
Bell, of Walls Road, Salterbeck, Workington, replied: “No.”
The trial continues.
