A woman allegedly raped in a portable toilet in Chester was just ‘screaming and screaming’ after she was attacked, a court heard.

Ionut Buruiana, 26, is accused of assaulting a 34-year-old victim outside the Disney store on Foregate Street in Chester in the early hours of March 13.

The complainant’s friend gave her account of the night in question on the second day of the trial at Warrington Crown Court on Tuesday (August 16).

Witnesses also told the court how they heard the alleged victim shouting ‘No’ from inside the cubicle.

Buruiana, of Wharton Court, Chester, faces one count of rape.

On the opening day the jury were told the complainant and her friend, who cannot be identified, had gone for a night out in Chester on Saturday, March 12.

'We were just glad to be out'

The two women started off at Wetherspoon’s before moving on to Church bar and then the Commercial pub.

The friend broke down in tears as she recalled it just being a ‘nice’ night and they ‘were just glad to be out’.

She said the complainant was ‘grumpy’ in the Commercial and wanted to go home. They then set off down Eastgate Street where they passed Buruiana.

The friend said: “There was a foreign man on the left hand side of the street and I just thought he was a weirdo.

“He was just staring straight into nothing and stood very still.

“I didn’t think anything of it, if this hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have replayed it over in my mind. I don’t know if anything was said.”

She told the jury they continued on by and then separated as the complainant used the portable toilet in Foregate Street and she went on to McDonalds.

Buruiana disputes the witness’s version of events and claims to have got chatting to the women and they walked ‘hand-in-hand while singing together’ towards the Eastgate Clock.

The prosecution claim the defendant followed his victim into the toilet.

Witness Amié Dean told the court she had ‘clearly’ heard a drunk woman’s voice repeatedly saying ‘No’ from the next cubicle.

She went out to tell her friends, including boyfriend Matthew Wood and Carl Redfern, before Mr Wood banged on the door and asked if everyone was OK.

A woman shouted ‘No’ back, the court heard.

'He was smirking. She was really distressed'

Ms Dean said: “The door swung open and Matt caught it.

“Inside we could see a man standing between a woman’s thighs and her body was pushed up against the corner of the cubicle.

“He was smirking. She was really distressed and very drunk. She said she did not know him.”

Ms Dean said: “The door swung open and Matt caught it.

While calling the police, Ms Dean answered a call on the complainant’s mobile phone from her friend, who she directed to them from McDonalds.

Simon Mills, defending, said: “When you called the police very sensibly the victim’s reaction was she didn’t want to do that right?”

Ms Dean said the complainant was crying and said she ‘couldn’t do this’.

The alleged victim’s friend said the 34-year-old was hysterical when she arrived.

She said: “She was just screaming and screaming, she was so frightened.

“Initially I couldn’t figure out what happened then one of the group of friends told me what they had heard.

“She’s such a strong girl, I’ve never known her frightened of anything, she was so scared and couldn’t believe this horrific thing had happened to her.

Warrington Crown Court where the trial of Ionut Buruiana, 26, of Wharton Court, Chester, is taking place

“She said she didn’t know where he came from.

“Then I saw the man was the same as the one we had passed in the street earlier.”

Mr Wood and Mr Redfern both stopped Buruiana from leaving the scene before the police came to arrest him.

The complainant says she cannot remember the alleged attack itself, but recalls the noise of the sirens as officers arrived.

Mr Redfern said the 26-year-old pushed them back, but made no attempts to escape.

Buruiana denies the charge against him.

The trial continues.