A MAN accused of raping a teenager has denied the attack but admitted he was going to film his friend having sex with the girl because he thought it was “funny”.

James Hore

A MAN accused of raping a teenager has denied the attack but admitted he was going to film his friend having sex with the girl because he thought it was “funny”.

Jean-Claude Rugero and a teenager have both denied raping the 17-year-old girl in a garden area at the centre of St Botolph's roundabout in Colchester.

The sex assault is alleged to have happened on the evening of August 12 last year shortly after the 17-year-old victim met the pair for the first time.

Rugero, 18, took to the stand at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday and denied the attack.

Matthew Gowen, defending, asked: “Mr Rugero, are you a rapist?” “Not at all”, he replied.

Rugero, who was wearing a brown tracksuit top, admitted touching the girl but said he moved away as his 17-year-old friend became intimate with her.

“I thought it was funny, so held out my phone and was about to record it, then three people came through the subway and saw me, so I put it back,” he said.

Rugero also denied holding the girl's arm when his friend was allegedly attacking her.

The court had earlier heard from Rugero's friend and co-accused, who cannot be named because of his age, who denied the attack saying they had consensual sex.

The teenage churchgoer accused told the jury of seven women and five men his alleged victim sent pictures of her vagina before the meeting.

He said the girl hugged both him and Rugero before touching him intimately and he then asked if she minded being touched and she said 'no, I don't mind.'

The court heard the pair started to have sex, which he said lasted between five and 10 minutes.

Christine Agnew, defending, asked “Was she fighting you off?” “No”, he replied.

“Was she scratching your back, getting you to stop?” “No”, he replied.

“As far as you were concerned… was she agreeing it to it?” “Yer”, said the defendant.

The teenager told the court he wore a condom which he threw onto the ground afterwards.

He told the jury that the girl, who comes from the Colchester area, was not upset but walked away from the scene.

The Chigwell teenager said he did not meet police after receiving a phone call from detectives because he thought it was his friends playing a prank.

The prosecution has alleged the 17-year-old raped the girl, who had been drinking vodka, before Rugero “took his turn” immediately after.

The teenager denies one count of rape and Rugero, of Hainult, denies one count of rape and one count of aiding and abetting rape.

The trial continues.