A TEENAGER raped an East Lancashire pensioner after arriving at her home armed with a stick, a court has heard.

The youth, 17, said to be drunk, armed himself with two kitchen knives after stumbling into the OAP’s Nelson home last October, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Neighbours say the defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, had been causing a commotion in the area prior to the attacks and had already tried to walk into at least one other home.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the alleged victim, who is in her sixties, said she was ‘frozen’ with fear as the youth became more aggressive and picked up knives.

The youth is alleged to have attempted sex with the woman before forcing her to commit a sex act for up to half an hour.

The youth, from Brierfield, has denied two offences of rape, attempted rape and assault by penetration.

Defence counsel Ian Metcalfe asked why the woman did not try to escape or to use her mobile phone to raise the alarm, or even shout so neighbours could hear.

She told a jury: “Screaming requires energy, to create that voice, but if you are so frightened then you are not able to do it.”

Mr Metcalfe suggested that the pensioner had seen his client in the back street and had helped him.

He alleged that the youth woke up to find the woman in bed with him and they had consensual sex.

But the woman said: “It is sick. He was an animal, my goodness.”

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