A TEENAGE girl told a jury today how she got into a car with a stranger in Hemel Hempstead who then raped her after telling her he would give her a lift home.

Giving evidence at St Albans Crown the girl said after pulling up in front of a garage block, the man told her to get onto the back seat where he joined her and then had sex with her, her against her will.

The jury was told how the girl was 17 at the time and restaurant worker Roziur Choudhury, of Drakes Drive, St Albans, 40, pleads not guilty to raping her.

Sally Mealing-McLeod prosecuting told the jury: "This offence is described as a stranger rape because they weren't known to each other at all."

She added: "However it's not disputed that the defendant had sexual intercourse with her and there is no issue as to identity.

"The issue in this case is whether she consented to sexual intercourse. She says she did not and he says she did consent and it was her that instigated sexual activity and effectively raped him."

The court then heard how on the evening of October 26 last year the girl and a friend went to the cinema at the Jarman's Park leisure complex in Hemel Hempstead.

The girls came out at around 11pm that night.

Because the friend lived on the other side of town, the prosecutor told how the victim agreed to accompany her for part of the way and walked beside a dual carriageway towards the Hemel town centre.

At a roundabout the girls had a cigarette and chatted for ten minutes before parting to walk to their homes.

The jury was told for the alleged victim it meant retracing her steps and walking back along the dual carriageway in the direction of the leisure park.

Miss Mealing McLeod said the girl was walking past the Royal Mail sorting office when she saw a silver Vauxhall Corser car pull up in front of her and stop in a layby.

The prosecutor said the girl sent the friend she had just left a text message saying "Someone's pulled over."

The jury heard the friend jokingly replied "Don't have sex."

Behind the wheel of the car was the defendant and as the teenager walked past he called out "Do you want a lift?"

The girl declined but the jury were told Mr Choudhury persisted by trying to engage her in conversation and repeating his offer of a lift.

The prosecutor said the girl got the impression the driver was not familiar with the controls and operation of the car and in fact it later turned out that the car was not his own, but a hire vehicle.

Inside the car, said Miss Mealing McLeod the girl told the driver to drop her off in the Adeyfield area of Hemel Hempstead.

But after turning off into Longlands he pulled up by some garages on the Adeyfield estate, turned off the lights and switched off the ignition.

"He started telling her how beautiful she was," said the prosecutor who said he then asked her to get into the back seat.

She refused saying she wanted to go home and by now "felt scared and vulnerable," the court was told.

The court was told the girl was in a state of shock and fear and he then had full sex with her.

Miss Mealing-McLeod told the jury:"All the time she was saying 'No...stop...I want to go home."

Afterwards the court heard the girl got dressed and walked off in a state of shock and went to the home of a friend.

The jury heard how it was around 11pm the following night when a police officer in an unmarked car in Two Waters Road, Hemel Hempstead saw a silver Vauxhall Corser which he thought matched the description of the car the girl had given to his colleagues the night before.

The car was followed for a short distance before being stopped and Mr Choudhury was arrested.

He too was medically examined that night and it was discovered he had shaved is pubic hair just hours before and cut his fingernails short.

Miss Mealing-McLeod said:"He was interviewed and said he had been flagged down by the girl and offered her a lift home. He said when he stopped she had forced herself on him and effectively raped him.

The prosecutor said Mr Choudhury told the police that after sex was over the girl had told him "Thankyou very much."

A DVD of the girl's interview with police was played in court.

She told an officer "He got on top of me and undid my bra and was kissing my boobs. He took my trousers off and started giving me oral sex. I was saying 'Can you stop.'

"After he finished he started to kiss me and the next thing I remember is him having sex with me. I just couldn't move.

"He kept saying you are very beautiful and when he finished he said you can get dressed now, so I did,"

The case continues.