A SCHOOLTEACHER slapped a woman across the face after raping her at a Christmas party held at a gym, a jury was told.

Bodybuilder Jack Crosse, 31, is on trial accused of raping two women at the business in Pontypool on December 14, 2019.

Cardiff Crown Court heard evidence from the first complainant who claimed she was sexually assaulted in a back room at the gym.

Through video evidence given to detectives, she said she and Crosse went there and she performed a consensual sex act with him after they had earlier kissed.

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The woman told the jury he was a stranger to her and she was introduced to him at the party where there was a free bar.

She said that after they went into the back room, another man suddenly appeared and asked her if she was OK.

The complainant said she responded by saying: “Am I OK Jack? He said, ‘She’s fine.’”

After the man left, she said: “He then grabbed me by the waist and pulled my trousers down.

She then described how Crosse allegedly forced himself on her as she said “no”.

"I put my hand on his chest and I said, ‘Stop’.

“I was pushed up against a shutter. He was looking very drunk.”

The woman said she told him she had to leave but would soon return as a ruse to get away from him.

She said: “He slapped me across the face and said, ‘Hurry up’.

“I was thinking, ‘What the hell?’

“It was stinging. It was quite painful. I remember holding my face.

“My ears were quite sore. I was in shock. I didn’t expect that.”

Kevin Seal, defending Crosse, told the woman when he cross-examined her in court, that she had been “flirting” with his client that night which she denied.

He accused her of lying about being raped.

She replied: “I’m 100 per cent not lying.”

Mr Seal put it to her: “You’re just making this up as you go along, aren’t you?”

The woman told him: “I wish I was.”

She added: “I thought he was a nice guy.”

Maths teacher Crosse, of Heol Ysgubor, Caerphilly, faces three counts of rape.

He denies all the charges against him.

The trial, being held before Recorder IWL Jones, continues.