A MAN accused of raping a young mum has admitted having sex with her, but says she encouraged him.

Thomas Greenhalgh told Bolton Crown Court the 21- year-old woman removed her tights, lay on the ground and said “show me how much you like me.”

The 22-year-old, of Campbell Court, Moses Gate, denies raping the girl in Farnworth Park, on October 18, last year.

Amy Nicholson, defending, took Greenhalgh through the events of the night.

The court heard he had been drinking in the Welcome Inn, then the Victoria Pub, before heading back to the Welcome Inn until around 2.20am. He had ten to 11 pints of beer, describing himself as “merry”, and had seen the victim, whom he knew through a friend, during the evening and they acknowledged each other.

Greenhalgh told the jury he and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ended up walking towards her home together.

He said she went into the park with him and the sex was consensual.

Greenhalgh said: “We’d been talking about how much we liked each other. We started to kiss on a bench then she went round the back of the bushes.”

He said he followed her and she lay on the floor and said to him: “Come and show me how much you like me”.”

Greenhalgh told the court the sex stopped when the woman said she needed the toilet and she never came back. The accused said he had a quick look for her then headed towards his friend’s home.

The prosecution claim Greenhalgh dragged the victim into the park and raped her, stopping when she said she needed the toilet. The woman then escaped over a wall and flagged down a car.

The case continues