A woman was allegedly subjected to a rape by a man on home leave from prison.

The 52-year-old woman had become friends with Roddy Henry, 39, while he was serving a prison sentence.

But a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Monday how Henry allegedly raped the woman in a Chelmsford hotel in October last year.

Henry, from Springfield Park Road, Chelmsford, denies the charge.

The court heard how the woman got to know Henry through a friend while he was serving a sentence at Featherstone Prison in the Midlands.

She visited him and exchanged letters before Henry was later allowed home visits to help him adjust to his eventual release from prison and the relationship with his alleged victim continued.

In October the two booked into the Travel Inn hotel on the outskirts of Chelmsford and the court heard how a conversation about sex ended with Henry becoming angry.

The woman left to get some food from a nearby fast food restaurant and when she returned she found Henry dressed in a shirt and boxer shorts.

There was an argument before Henry asked the woman to come and sit next to him before he allegedly carried out the rape.

Henry was arrested later and he told police there had been no rape. The woman had consented to sex, he said.

The trial continues

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