Matthew Thomas, 52, said the woman had flirted with him for months and invited him to her house for sex while her husband was away.
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| In the cock: 'Playboy' butcher Matthew Thomas, 52, said the woman had flirted with him for months and invited him to her house for sex while her husband was away, denying she was raped |
The alleged victim, who cannot be named, said he put date rape drug Rohypnol in her glass of wine and raped her as her young child slept upstairs.
Thomas today told Lewes Crown Court that they had consensual sex after months of flirting in the organic butcher's shop he used to run in East Sussex.
He also said they were close enough to discuss personal matters, including her millionaire uncle's wealth, with the woman telling him she could be richer but the star is 'as tight as they come'.
Thomas told jurors he was invited to the alleged victim's flat before they had sex on September 23, 2008.
Giving evidence he said: 'She phoned the shop that day after her visit and she asked me what I was doing that evening and said do you fancy coming round to my house to eat the food.
'I said what about your husband, she said he was away, but her son would be there.
He said after drinking some wine and having some nibbles they had sex.
He said: 'She made reference to the fact she didn't normally do that, but that she enjoyed it. When I left the bathroom she was in the bedroom completely naked.
'She beckoned me into the bedroom and we had full sex on the bed. She was leading everything.'
He said he left at around 3am to avoid her husband.
He said: 'The next day she text me to say she didn't want to ruin her marriage and told me not to contact her again.
'I was quite surprised given the particularly pleasant evening we'd had. I didn't expect that.
'I only saw her once again, she was with her son in Waitrose and she just blanked me. I assumed she just didn't want to speak to me so I respected her wishes.'
Thomas also claimed the woman confided in him she never got a birthday card from her famous uncle.
He said: 'She made reference to never even getting a birthday or Christmas card from him. She mentioned wanting to have better things one day and I said something about tapping her uncle up and she said 'no he is as tight as they come'.'
Four former girlfriends of Thomas gave evidence for his defence saying he was very anti drugs after his brother Philip died of an overdose.
Josella Scriven, who was 15 years younger than the defendant when they lived together from 2010 to 2013, said: 'He did have a reputation, he had a nickname - the Playboy Butcher - he always had attention from the ladies, he's a good looking man.
'As a partner I asked him about his past and there were no secrets between us. I wasn't sure about dating him at first because he's a bit of a charmer so I was wary, but he was very respectful, I never felt pressured.
'Before we went out I was a friend of his daughter and I was horrifically drunk after a Christmas Eve party. I stayed round his house and felt very safe and looked after.'
Thomas also claimed the woman told him she never got a birthday card from her famous uncle.
He said: 'She made reference to never even getting a birthday or Christmas card from him. She mentioned wanting to have better things one day and I said something about tapping her uncle up and she said 'no he is as tight as they come'.'
After the sex, he claims he left before her husband returned.
Thomas said: 'At around 3am I decided to leave, I wasn't particularly comfortable, we never discussed where her husband was and I decided to leave.
'The next day she text me to say she didn't want to ruin her marriage and told me not to contact her again.
'I was quite surprised given the particularly pleasant evening we'd had. I didn't expect that.
'I only saw her once again, she was with her son in Waitrose and she just blanked me. I assumed she just didn't want to speak to me so I respected her wishes.'
Cross-examining the defendant, Bill Saunders QC, prosecuting, asked if he felt guilty about having sex in the lounge.
Thomas said: 'I felt a certain amount of guilt. It should have occurred to both of us.
'I think we drank the best part of two bottles of wine. I absolutely didn't spike her drink or put anything in it.
'She was tipsy but I don't think she was so drunk she wouldn't remember what happened. I have no idea why she would make these allegations.'
Four former girlfriends of Thomas gave evidence for his defence saying he was very anti drugs after his brother Philip died of an overdose.
Josella Scriven, who was 15 years younger than the defendant when they lived together from 2010 to 2013, said: 'He did have a reputation, he had a nickname - the Playboy Butcher - he always had attention from the ladies, he's a good looking man
'As a partner I asked him about his past and there were no secrets between us. I wasn't sure about dating him at first because he's a bit of a charmer so I was wary, but he was very respectful, I never felt pressured'.
Karen Goodyer, who was the only other employee at the shop, as a butcher's assistant, said: 'She seemed to get on with Matthew and came into the shop a lot, probably about once a week.
'It was more than just general chatting, it was very flirty, there was a lot of batting eyelids and giggling.
'Either the next day or the day after he went round he said he went to hers for dinner and they had sex.
'He said her son was there so it was a bit weird because they had to keep quiet.
'We didn't see her again and I just thought she'd had sex as a married woman and wanted to made a go of he marriage so decided to stay away from the shop.'
The married mother, in her forties, claims a date rape drug was dropped into her glass of wine by butcher Matthew Thomas, a jury was told.
A female police officer from a south coast force advised the alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to drop the case.
The PC said that it would become international news because she has a famous relative - and also told her husband not to pursue a rape case for the same reason, it was said.
Yesterday the woman sobbed as she gave evidence from behind a screen as she described what happened.
She said: 'Unfortunately I have a famous relative, I don't normally tell many people.
'I don't know how but he (Thomas) had that information and based on that she (the police officer) said he could splash it across the newspapers.
'She said I would go through a whole lot more pain and trauma than he would and not to bother because it wouldn't be worth it.
'But I really needed him to be caught and needed the situation to be resolved so I could deal with it emotionally.'
Matthew Thomas is accused of spiking the woman's wine before pouncing when she was unable to move at her south coast home.
Sobbing from behind a screen, the married woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, denied the sex was consensual after the court was told her wine was laced with rohypnol.
The victim's husband, who also cannot be named, told the court that the couple did not formally take the matter to the police after an officer told him in an informal conversation that it would be a difficult case to prove.
Breaking down in tears in the witness box he told the court: 'I encouraged her to go to the doctors because she was complaining of stomach pains and feeling sick and there was obviously something very wrong.
'I took her back home after the appointment and eventually she told me she had something to tell me. After some reassurance she told me what happened.
'It was obvious some kind of drug had been used. We spoke to rape crisis groups and those kind of helplines and we decided that as it had been 48 hours there's no physical evidence left.
'The idea we involved anybody else or talked to anybody else felt threatening.
'I had a meeting with a police officer through work and after a number of conversations I posed a scenario to this female officer.
'I spoke face-to-face with the officer and she advised sexual assault cases are very difficult to prove. We decided to draw together as a family and that I would support her and we would try to move on.'
Thomas, 52, denies rape. The trial continues.
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