Rape accused's encounter was consensual, jury told

Mike Rouse is accused of rape and sexual assault, and is on trial at Coventry Crown Court

A Worcestershire councillor accused of raping a woman after his brother's funeral has told a jury that the encounter was "entirely consensual".

Mike Rouse, who represents Redditch South on Worcestershire County Council, is on trial at Coventry Crown Court, accused of rape and sexual assault in February 2023.

The jury previously heard the incident happened upstairs at a property where people had gathered after the funeral, and Mr Rouse had taken cocaine beforehand.

He denies rape and sexual assault, as well as asking friends for cocaine inside the house.

Mr Rouse's defence lawyer, Andy Western KC, told the jury that "the evidence doesn't stack up", and there was "nothing to suggest he'd done anything criminal".

He said the defendant was guilty of adultery, but not rape.

"The evidence doesn't back up the allegation that [the victim] was raped," he said.

Mr Rouse is alleged to have raped the woman in an upstairs bedroom, before going downstairs and telling a friend: "Guess where I've been?"

But Mr Western told the jury his client was not trying to hide his actions.

"He was hardly trying to keep it a secret, that he'd been upstairs," he said.

He said the pair did not even know each other particularly well, and the claim that she had been raped came as a shock to Mr Rouse.

Judge Campbell, in summing up, read out lines of the councillor's evidence, in which he stated: "I did not assault [the victim], and I did not rape her."

Mr Rouse was suspended from the Conservative party at his own request after being charged and is currently an independent.