A WOMAN was allegedly throttled and raped when she was a teenager staying in York, a court heard.

Jason Vincent Longhurst, now 44, came into the room where she was spending the night and told her he was going to have sex with her, said Paul Abrahams, prosecuting.

Then he allegedly throttled her with some clothing until she was unconscious and raped her, the court heard.

The woman told York Crown Court she had only met Longhurst for the first time earlier that day.

Longhurst, of Lindsey Avenue, Acomb, had denied charges of attempted strangulation with intent to rape and rape at an earlier hearing.

He is not attending the trial, but is represented by defence barrister Julian Goode.

Opening the prosecution, Mr Abrahams said Longhurst had got out of prison hours before the incident involving the woman more than 15 years ago.

He knew people the teenager was staying with, the court heard.

When he came into her room, she told him she didn’t want sex with him.

He threatened he would kill her if she told anyone, the court was told. Panicked and scared she said she wanted some fresh air and looked out of the window.

He grabbed her, put what felt like a jumper round her throat and choked her until she blacked out, said Mr Abrahams.

When she came to, Longhurst was on top of her raping her, the barrister added.

She screamed, Longhurst put some trousers on and left the house, the jury heard.

Three people she was staying with told the jury she had told them Longhurst had raped her.

Mr Abrahams said the woman went to York Hospital a day later claiming that she had suffered black eyes and injuries to her throat as the result of an allergy to dogs.

But a medical expert, who examined the records of the hospital visit, said the injuries were consistent with someone being throttled and were not the kind of injuries someone got through allergies.

The woman told the jury she had decided not to tell police about the alleged rape at the time because of pressure from the family she had been staying with. She had since changed her mind.

The trial continues.