Nile Ranger denies raping woman after night out

Nile Ranger now plays for Swindon Town

A former Premier League footballer raped a woman in a hotel after pestering her for weeks "to be his girl", a court has heard.

Former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger, 22, is accused of raping the woman after the pair had been out together in January last year.

The player, who is now with League One Swindon Town, denies the charge.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the woman woke naked next to Mr Ranger not knowing where she was.

Christine Egerton, prosecuting, said the alleged victim could remember being with the footballer at Empress bar in Newcastle, where he bought them drinks, but could remember nothing more until she woke up naked in a hotel room the next day.

'Morning after pill'

She told the jury: "She has no recollection that evening of going to a different place, but when she woke up she knew she had been there because she had a stamp on her hand."

Ms Egerton told the court that Mr Ranger told her they had had sex and that she needed to take the morning after pill. She said she then got dressed, called a taxi and left.

Ms Egerton said it was "crystal clear that she was not consenting" as "she was so incapacitated by drink or something unknown that she found it difficult to walk and has no memory whatsoever of what occurred".

The court was played an interview the alleged victim conducted with the police, where she said: "I was feeling really sick, I cannot explain how I felt, I have never felt like that before. I did not feel like I was there."

CCTV footage was also shown of the pair arriving in a taxi at the Carlton Hotel in Jesmond, Newcastle, where she can be seen falling out of the car.

The jury heard Mr Ranger had been messaging her in the weeks before and would always come and talk to her when they met in clubs.

But the court was told she had always told him she was not interested and said she had a boyfriend.

'Kissing her neck'

Ms Egerton added: "As far as he was concerned he wanted something more and it went further than that because he had been pestering her for some time.

"In the days and weeks before this allegation they had been communicating by text and in these communications he had asked her to be his girl."

The court was told on a previous occasion she had gone back to a hotel with him as he said he wanted to talk to her.

The jury heard he had started kissing her neck and touching her leg, but she had not wanted him to do that, so when he went to the bathroom, she had left the hotel and got a taxi home.

After being arrested Mr Ranger told police they had twice had sex and she had consented "whole heartedly" and "enthusiastically".

The trial continues.