A woman sent a message to the man accused of raping and sexually assaulting her asking, “did you hear me say no?”, a court heard.

On trial at Ipswich Crown Court is Simon Wright, 26, now of Tonge Moor Road, Bolton, Lancashire, who denies two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Wright is alleged to have raped the woman at an address in Aldeburgh in June 2017.

The jury heard that Facebook and Whatsapp messages between the woman and Wright were exchanged the day after the alleged rape and sexual assault.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting, said the alleged victim sent a Facebook message to Wright saying: "Did you hear me say no? Because I said it quite a lot."

Cross-examining Wright, who was giving evidence from the witness box, Mr Spence said: "Not at any time do you challenge what she's saying.

"Not once do you say 'hang on a second, that isn't what happened'.

"You say absolutely nothing to contradict what she's saying."

The court heard that Wright replied via message: "I was a bit of a mess, I accept that."

He also said via another message: "I am sorry if I pushed things a bit."

Asked why he replied this way, Wright told the jury he believed the woman was referring to the fact that he was in a relationship at the time.

He said he was apologetic because he thought she felt bad about them having sex when he was in a relationship.

"I felt bad that she felt bad," he said.

MORE: Alleged rapist 'violently forced himself upon woman', court hearsThe court heard Wright left Suffolk in the days following the alleged incident.

Asked by Mr Spence why he had left, Wright replied: "I did not feel welcome in Aldeburgh."

"I had nowhere else to go."

The alleged victim called a helpline before making a complaint to the police, the court heard.

In police interview, Wright claimed he and the woman had started kissing downstairs at the house before going upstairs to have consensual sex.

Wright told police: "At no time whatsoever did she try to push me away."

The court heard that Wright was sober at the time of the alleged incident.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations tomorrow following the judge's summing up of the case.