A WOMAN was kidnapped in York then raped three times by a martial arts expert who had already attacked three other women, a court has been told.

Mark Thompson allegedly told his student victim: "You've got two options. You can give me what I want and tell no one what's happened. Or tonight is the night you die."

Teesside Crown Court was told married Thompson, 36, grabbed and attacked the 21-year-old only hours after trying to sexually attack another woman, while spending a night at a friend's house in York.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said Thompson was ejected from the house but his white van was spotted on CCTV just hours later on October 29 last year, near the York night club where the student worked part-time behind the bar to help fund her studies.

The victim had been in a Hallowe'en outfit, for a Hallowe'en party at the club. She had only one glass of cider before everyone went home and she left at 3.50am, wearing a coat over her outfit and carrying a backpack, Mr Dodds said.

She was grabbed from behind and placed in a headlock by Thompson who dragged her around the corner and forced her into his van so she was lying across the front seats then raped her, it was claimed.

Her white Hallowe'en make-up was later found on the seats by police, the jury was told.

"The man told her not to struggle or he would snap her neck," Mr Dodds told the jury, adding that Thompson then told his victim about her "two options".

He was disturbed by a passing vehicle and drove off, holding the girl's head between her legs so she could not see and throwing her mobile into the van's foot well, the court was told.

Because it was still switched on police were later able to trace the route he took along the A64 to an area near Kirkham Priory near Malton.

He allegedly raped the girl twice more while drinking from a vodka bottle, telling her: "I have never done this before. But you were so beautiful I could not resist."

She escaped from his van while he was stopped at a red light and "ran into the arms" of a retired policeman putting his dog into his car in the next street, Mr Dodds added.

He said Thompson "had a problem with sex", adding: "He was not getting it with his wife and that was why he was looking for it elsewhere."

The prosecution said Thompson had sexually assaulted a 23-year-old York barmaid in a shop doorway  in 2009 and tried to rape a 32-year-old woman at her home in York last summer.

They claimed she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and before escaping out the door was told by her attacker: "You will never be able to overcome me with a knife. I'm a martial arts expert."

The 2009 case never reached trial. The second and third women came forward after Thompson was arrested for allegedly raping the fourth, it was said.

Thompson, of Hospital Fields Road in Fulford, York, denies nine charges, including three of rape, one of attempted rape and one of kidnap.

He told police the student had loosened some buttons to show him her costume and shown him her stocking and garter and given him a "come on" look.

In the incident earlier in the evening, Thompson's male friend was awoken by a girl's screams and grabbed a baseball bat, thinking they were being burgled, the court was told.

He found Thompson standing at his would-be victim's bedroom door with the top buttons of his trousers undone, the jury heard. It was claimed Thompson then told his pal: "It's not how it looks. I just wanted a cuddle."

The trial continues.