A MAN accused of raping a prostitute at knifepoint has insisted that she agreed to have sex - and that no force was used.

Andrew Fardella told how he picked up the woman at Blackburn and paid her £20 prior to intercourse taking place.

The 33-year-old, of Abraham Street, Blackburn, denies raping the young woman in April last year.

He told a jury at Preston Crown Court "I wish I had never picked her up". The prosecution claim he raped the woman while holding a cheese knife close to her face. It is alleged that he told her he would have sex for free and did so without contraception, even though she claims to have insisted he use a condom.

She is said to have co-operated because she was fearful of being injured by the knife.

The defendant told the jury he had the knife on him as he had been cutting speaker wire. That night he had planned to visit a friend, but then "thought it might be too late. There was a lot on my mind at the time. I was driving around," he said.

He noticed the woman on a street corner and flashed his headlights. He said she approached the car and he asked how much she charged. It was the first time he had picked up a prostitute.

Fardella said she told him £20. He drove to playing fields, asking her if she needed condoms, but she replied that she was on the pill. He gave her £20.

His barrister Ken Hind asked him: "Did you force her to have sex against her will?" He said "No."

Mr Hind continued "So, she consented?" Fardella responded "Yes, she did."

Before sex took place, Fardella said he removed the knife from his jacket pocket as it had been stabbing him. He insisted he did not use it to force the woman to have sex.

(Proceeding)