A WOMAN has today told a court she grabbed a knife to defend herself against a would-be rapist in York.

The 32-year-old, who cannot be named, said Mark Thompson, 36, pinned her down but she was saved from rape because she was wearing a onesie, which he could not remove.

The woman then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and ordered him away then ran out the back door and hid until Thompson had left, she told Teesside Crown Court.

Thompson, of Hospital Fields Road in Fulford, is accused of kidnapping another woman, a 21-year-old student, last October and raping her three times between York and Malton.

The 32-year-old complainant said she was attacked last summer but contacted police only after Thompson was arrested over the October incident.

It was said in court this was partly because she knew Thompson was then in jail. "The other part of the reason was if I had done it earlier that girl might not have been in that position," she told police.

The court was told the woman had been introduced to Thompson, said to be a specialist in Brazilian ju jitsu,  by a mutual friend during a night out.

Thompson gave them all a lift to her home and she let him sleep on the bedroom floor, knowing another friend would also be there, it was claimed.

When they were left alone in the morning, married Thompson tried to put his arm around her but she said they all had to leave because she was going to work, the jury heard.

Thompson gave the others a lift and she went back to bed but half an hour later Thompson came back into her room undoing his trousers, she claimed.

She said he pinned her down on the bed, telling her: "I won't harm you but if I have to I will."

She said she was wearing a dark blue hooded onesie with a zip down the front  and it was claimed Thompson could not get her out of it without using both hands, so he let her go and ordered her to strip.

She said: "I said 'If you had a mother or sister you would not do this'. He just stopped saying "I have a sister. I have a sister'."

While she was trying to persuade him to leave she backed into the kitchen to look for a knife in a drawer.

She said: "I had no idea which knife I was pulling out and it was pure luck it was a big one.
"I said 'The tables are turned now. You need to get out of my house.'

"He did not seem bothered at all. He said: 'You will never overcome me with a knife. I'm a martial arts expert'.

"It was like I had picked up fresh air. He was not fazed - which did scare me."

Alex Menary, defending, claimed that rather than go to bed the woman had changed into a short denim play suit and started giving the men belly-dancing lessons.

He suggested she wanted to be the "centre of attention" but Thompson was more interested in discussing The Bible with a friend.

But the woman told the court: "I do not own a blue denim play suit. I do not belly dance and do not claim to be able to."

Thompson denies nine charges relating to four different women dating back to 2009. He was arrested after the alleged attack in October. The trial continues.