A young father on trial for raping his ?cousin? told a jury yesterday that he believed the woman ? whom he considered a friend rather than a relative ? consented to have sex with him after a night out in Hamilton.

The 24-year-old, who denies one count of sexual assault, took to the witness stand in his own defence and said that his alleged victim offered to let him stay at her home after they met by chance in Champions on Reid Street. He told the Supreme Court that once back at her place in Pembroke she asked him where he was sleeping.

?I told her I was sleeping in her bed with her,? he said, adding that when she didn?t reply he took it as an ?indication? which gave him reason to want to have sex with her. ?She never said anything to me about sleeping on the couch.?

The man told the jury that his alleged victim, who was 25 at the time, took her baby son out of her bedroom and into another room before accepting a cannabis ?spliff? he had rolled.

A short time later, they were in bed together and he began to ?rub up against? her. ?I got the indication that everything was fine because she never said anything,? he added.

The court heard that the pair had sex for about 25 minutes, during which time the woman lit and smoked a cigarette.

Under cross-examination, senior crown counsel Paula Tyndale asked the man: ?And that didn?t bother you, the fact that she was so disconnected that she could smoke a cigarette while you were having sex with her??

He replied: ?She did it like this was something she usually did during sex.?

Ms Tyndale said: ?I?m suggesting to you that did not happen. Is it possible that you constructed that part of your evidence??

?No,? he replied.

The man said the woman was ?reacting? during intercourse. ?She was moaning,? he said, adding that she clawed his back with her nails and squeezed him.

He told the court that he went straight to sleep after the sex, which he said happened at about 5.30 a.m. He said he later woke to see the woman?s mother brandishing a ?butcher?s knife?.

His defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher had earlier asked him how long he had known the mother. He replied that he didn?t know her but had seen her around and knew she was the woman?s mother. He referred to her as ?aunt?, he said, out of respect as he did not know her name.

He said he thought of his alleged victim as a friend rather than a relative and did not have a lot of contact with her or her mother. He said people had suggested they were related on his father?s side and were cousins but he had never investigated the claim as he had no reason to.

The man said the alleged victim had not appeared drunk at any time. Ms Tyndale suggested that he did not attempt to take her clothes off or use a condom because he was ?trying to fight off her resistance?. He denied the claim and said there had not been a struggle between them on the bed.

The man said they never discussed having sex and agreed that the woman never gave any physical sign of wanting to have intercourse beforehand.

Ms Tyndale asked: ?Was there any conversation during the act of sexual intercourse??

?No,? he replied.

?So there was silence before, silence during and silence after?? she asked. ?Yes,? said the man.

No other defence witnesses were called and both sides were due to sum up yesterday afternoon, with the jury expected to be sent out today.