A NEIGHBOUR of a pensioner allegedly raped in her own home by a 17-year-old boy said he heard screaming and shouting coming for the address.

The man told the court he saw two figures arguing through the kitchen window of the property and heard loud voices coming from the property.

It is alleged that the teenager, from Brierfield, who was said to be drunk, armed himself with two kitchen knives after stumbling into the woman’s Nelson home last October.

The man, speaking through an interpreter, said: “I was in the back alley and was looking through the kitchen window where I could see two people arguing.

“I heard a male voice shouting and screaming and then heard a female scream. I could hear the female voice for about 10 to 15 minutes.”

The neighbour said he “could tell” the man was physically hitting the woman.

He did not ring police that evening but approached an officer on the street the following morning. The officer then visited his house and took a statement.

Also speaking through a Punjabi interpreter, another neighbour said he went to his back door when it appeared someone had tried to walk into his kitchen.

He told the court he saw a man, aged around 20, dressed in a dark-coloured shalwar kameez, the traditional Asian dress, and asked him what he was doing.

The neighbour said the young man told him he had 'come looking for four friends' he believed lived in the area.

But he told the younger man that no-one he knew answered their description and the other man, who was carrying a stick, left his back yard.

The youth denies two offences of rape, attempted rape and assault by penetration.