A MAN accused of assault after beating a woman with a rope during a “master slave” sex session has claimed he and the alleged victim had been inspired by the best selling erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

Steven Lock told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court that he and the woman, who is in her 40s, had both read the book and had planned a “master slave” role-play fantasy during which he would “lash” her.

Lock, 43, said he and the woman had taken part in threesomes and bondage sessions after meeting on a dating website and for several months had been discussing the role-play during which he would beat her.

Asked by defence counsel Roger Thomson if he and the victim had read “Fifty Shades of Grey”, Lock replied: “That’s where we got the idea from.”

Lock, of Plover Road, Ipswich, denies assaulting the woman causing her actual bodily harm on August 6 last year.

It has been alleged that when the woman went to his home Lock put a rope round her neck and pulled it tight before padlocking her wrist to a chain fastened to his bedroom floor.

He had then ordered the woman to bend over the bed and had allegedly struck her 14 times with the rope, causing 14cm long bruises to her buttocks.

It is alleged that Lock hit the woman so hard she heard the rope “whistling”. She said she had screamed in pain. After the beating Lock had sex with her and left her chained up in his bedroom while he went on his computer.

The woman sent a text to a friend saying she needed help as she had been “chained up and whipped like a dog”. She had also sent the friend a picture of the chain and padlock on one of her wrists and asked him to call the police.

Lock eventually gave the woman the padlock key and told her to leave. Police officers saw her in a distressed state in the street as they made their way to Lock’s home.

During a search of the premises officers discovered a monitor on the bedroom wall which relayed footage from CCTV cameras he had installed in each of the rooms.

Giving evidence, Lock said he and the woman had agreed to say the code word “red” if either of them felt uncomfortable with anything they were doing during sex but neither of them had ever used it.

He claimed he and the woman had agreed a “master/slave” fantasy for that weekend and it was the first time he had beaten her. “It was new ground,” he said.

He said he and the woman had both fully understood what was going to happen but he had felt bad after he had lashed her 14 times and saw that she was crying.

He denied putting a rope round her neck and pulling it tight but accepted that he had put a chain round the woman’s wrist.

The trial continues.