A YOUNG man on trial for the alleged rape of a woman on New Year's day has denied the allegation, claiming the pair had consensual sex.

Oliver Pearless, of Berkeley Road, Newbury, has been charged with one count of rape which allegedly occurred in the early hours of New Years Day in 2020.

The 23-year-old had been out clubbing in the since-closed Zinc Club, in Market Place, Newbury, with the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, before the alleged incident.

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After clubbing, the woman had gone back to Pearless’s friend's home after losing her own friend. She told police that she had got into bed with Pearless when he allegedly ‘got on top of her’ and raped her despite her rejections.

Pearless then sent the woman a message six days later apologising, saying he was ‘so drunk’ and his ‘recollection is minimal’.

However, he is now on trial at Reading Crown Court where he has denied the allegation, claiming the pair had consensual sex.

On Wednesday (September 27), the woman was cross-examined by Pearless’s defence lawyer who asked the woman if she could have ‘misunderstood’ Pearless when she alleged he tried to kiss her in the club.

She said: “No, he learned towards me and tried to kiss me. I did say that [I have a boyfriend] multiple times because he was trying to get with me most of the night.

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“There wasn’t physical touching but he was always quite close, trying to be next to me.”

When asked why she didn’t attempt to walk back to her friend’s home instead of returning to Pearless’s friends house, the woman said she was fearful of walking in the dark alone as a woman.

The defence lawyer said: “Why didn’t you ask one of the boys to walk you?”

In response, the woman said: “That went really well when I went with one of the boys.”

Moving on to the alleged incident itself, the defence barrister said: “I’m going to suggest you were laying side by side and started kissing each other and you started touching his face and pulling at his shirt.

“You began to lower your tracksuit you were wearing and you laid on your back…you gestured for him to come on top of you and you had sex, do you remember that?”

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The woman said: “No, I didn’t touch him. That’s not true. It wasn’t sex, it was rape.”

The trial continues.