A MAN denied he raped a woman as they watched a film together and claimed she was the one who had initiated sexual activity between them.

Sebastian Smith, 26, from Brynmawr, told a jury the complainant had touched him first on a bed while a movie was being played on Netflix.

The defendant is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court accused of rape and sexual assault by penetration during the summer of 2020.

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He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Giving evidence in his defence, Smith was asked by his barrister Jenny Yeo to tell the jury what had happened.

He told them: “We were play fighting and kissing.

“She then put her hands on me between my legs.”

Smith said he had put his penis inside her but she had told him “no”.

The defendant added: “As soon as she said no I went straight out.”

He said he believed the woman had been consenting to sexual activity between them.

Prosecutor John Ryan, cross-examining Smith, asked him to tell the jury the name of the movie he had chosen for them to watch.

He replied that it was “an army film” but he couldn’t remember the title.

Mr Ryan put it to him that he had raped the woman: “You just took what you wanted and you didn’t care about her feelings.”

Smith denied this.

Mr Ryan had earlier played a recording of the 999 call the woman had made to the police just after the alleged assaults.

She told the emergency operator: “I went to his house to watch a film.

“He put his hand down my trousers.

“I told him to stop it.”

The woman added: “I did touch him and said to him, ‘How would you like it if I touched you?’

“I told him I didn’t want to do it.

“He pinned me down on the bed and pulled down my trousers.

“He got off me after the third time of me telling him no.”

Jurors were told Smith, of George Street, has no previous convictions recorded against him.

The trial before Judge David Wynn Morgan continues.