A 25-YEAR-OLD has denied raping a 15-year-old girl in his car and told an Oxford Crown Court jury they had consensual sex.

Aaron Deakin-Hars, of Squires Road, Brize Norton, is on trial facing one charge of rape, allegedly committed on March 16 last year.

He is accused of carrying out the crime while his car was parked in Kilkenny Lane, Carterton, after meeting a girl he had been messaging on Facebook. But yesterday he gave evidence for the first time and said the complainant initiated the sexual encounter by sitting on his lap.

Claire Fraser, defending, asked him: “At any point did she say no?”

Deakin-Hars replied: “No.”

The barrister said: “At any point did she give the impression that she didn’t want sexual intercourse to take place?”

The witness repeated: “No.”

Miss Fraser also asked her client: “Did you have any concerns when you were with her that she might be under the age of consent?”

Deakin-Hars said: “No because she was all dolled up. If I knew she wasn’t even 16 I wouldn’t have picked her up in the first place.”

The trial continues.