A man allegedly “took advantage” of a young woman and raped her when she was drunk and incapable of giving consent, a jury has heard.

Thomas Atkinson, 27, the woman and her friend, had spent the evening in three pubs in Malton, York Crown Court heard.

Richard Butters, prosecuting, alleged that at one stage Atkinson grabbed the woman’s leg and that she told him to leave her alone.

When she and her friend returned to their hotel, Atkinson had sex with the woman.

“The complainant was taken advantage of by this defendant when she was completely incapacitated through alcohol and therefore utterly incapable of providing or giving any form of informed consent,” claimed the barrister.

In evidence, Atkinson alleged that the woman had known what she was doing and had actively participated in it. He claimed the sex had been consensual.

He denied grabbing the woman’s leg or that she had told him to leave him alone.

The jury heard that Atkinson was engaged at the time and still is engaged, and that the woman was also in a stable relationship with a different man.

Atkinson, who works for a shoot on the North York Moors, of Town End Close, Pickering, denies rape.

“Do you think you are a bit of a player in relation to girls?” Mr Butters asked Atkinson.

“Before I got into a stable relationship, yes,” he replied.

“And that continued?” asked the prosecution barrister.

“No,” said Atkinson.

Mr Butters asked: “You were coming onto her, weren’t you?”

“No,” said Atkinson.

“You knew exactly what you wanted that night?” said Mr Butters.

“No”, said Atkinson.

Mr Butters alleged the woman didn’t remember getting to the hotel because she was drunk and the next thing she remembered was her friend coming into the room and calling police.

Atkinson said the woman had been drinking but knew what she was doing. 

The woman’s friend alleged she heard the woman shouting her name and went into the woman's room. Atkinson denied the woman had called out.

The friend told police that the woman was “limp and submissive”.

She alleged in the witness box that she had said “What the hell has been going on?". Atkinson denied this. 

She said that because the woman was sick and other things she noticed about her state and in the room, she decided to call police as she thought the woman had been raped.

Atkinson alleged that the friend had come into the room while he and the woman were in the early stages of having sex, asked if the woman was “OK” and then left. The friend denied this.

He claimed he didn't see any indication the woman had been sick.

He claimed before he finished sex, he realised that he was cheating on his fiancée and stopped.

He alleged he was then "disgusted" by his actions. 

The trial continues.