An alleged victim of Nicholas Crawshaw said she was raped by the Chester man while she was underage, a court heard.

The woman was the second complainant to give evidence in the ongoing trial at Warrington Crown Court.

Crawshaw, of West Street, Hoole, is accused of 16 sex offences, including 10 rapes, against seven victims between 2010 and 2015. He denies all the charges against him.

The alleged victim, who cannot be identified, told the court today (Thursday, February 11) that Crawshaw, 23, raped her in an alleyway between January and June 2010.

Earlier the complainant had been drinking with friends in a field, where Crawshaw had also been with his mates, before going back to a friend’s home to stay over.

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She said she left her friend's house at about midnight to meet the 23-year-old, who asked her to come with him to see a mate.

They went down the street together before turning into a deserted alleyway, the court heard.

'It all happened so quickly'

The alleged victim said: “I asked where his friend was, but he didn’t say anything. It all happened so quickly, but he pulled my joggers down and pushed me on to the ground.

“I was telling him to stop and I was panicking. It only lasted about 10 seconds before I managed to push him off.”

She said Crawshaw still did not say a word before she ran back to her friend’s house.

The defendant denies the incident ever happened.

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Two friends of the complainant also gave evidence - the first was the friend with whom she was staying over on the night of the alleged offence.

She said she had asked the alleged victim whether she wanted to take a condom with her and after she came back she ‘didn’t seem too distressed’.

Friend told about incident

But the second friend said the complainant had told her about the incident the following day and had said because it had all happened so quickly she did not know whether it counted as sex.

Mark Le Brocq, defending, said: “Did you make this up because you wanted some attention?

“When you told the school you told the support officer that there was no sex. There are inconsistencies in what you told people because it’s simply not true.”

Rumours about the incident started circulating in the school and the complainant went through a period of depression, the court heard. The jury was also told that the alleged victim had initially decided not to press charges because it was ‘a difficult time’ for her.

Hanging around school

Crawshaw had left the high school by summer 2009 but a support officer at the school confirmed an email had circulated among staff in June 2010 about Crawshaw hanging around on the grounds despite no longer being a pupil.

A letter was also sent to him saying if a member of staff saw him he would be asked to leave.

An allegation of sexual assault concerning the first victim took place on school grounds between January and June 2010, the court heard on Wednesday.

The case continues but the trial at Warrington Crown Court is not expected to resume again until Monday afternoon.