Rape accused Jack Tweed 'unaware friend was in room'

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Jack Tweed today told the jury trying him for rape that he had no idea his friend was in the room watching until he knelt on the bed and started having sex with the same woman.

Tweed, the widower of Big Brother star Jade Goody, and his friend Anthony Davis, 26, both deny raping the teenager at Tweed's east London home in the early hours of September 4 last year.

The 22-year-old club promoter said he had no idea Davis was in the room while he had sex with the woman against the window sill and did not even see him when he and the woman moved to the bed.

The first he knew his friend was present was when Davis knelt on the bed before having oral sex, he told Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London.

But the victim, who was 19 at the time, said she was "horrified" and went into "complete lockdown" when Davis joined Tweed on the bed and they both raped her together.

Giving evidence today, Tweed, who stood with his hands behind his back and spoke confidently, told the jury of six men and six women that the sex had been consensual.

He said their eyes met in the dark room after they had been talking about whether either of them was seeing anyone.

"She was flirty towards me and very friendly," he said.

The pair were laughing and joking with others when the teenager asked for a pair of socks or tracksuit bottoms to keep warm.

"I couldn't really be bothered to walk around looking so I just said, 'Go and look for them'," he said.

"She said, 'Come and show me. Come and help me look for them."'

Tweed said they both went into the bedroom, and then added: "I turned round and (she) was standing right behind me.

"We looked at each other and just started kissing. We made eye contact.

"I may have made the first move. She was kissing me back and had her arms round me, running her hand through my hair and down my back."

The jury has heard the young woman, who is now aged 20, went with her friends to Tweed's house in Brandesbury Square, Repton Park, Woodford Green, east London, after a night out at the Embassy Club in Mayfair.

Her first contact with Tweed was when he started kissing the back of her neck while wearing boxer shorts and a long dressing gown, she said.

The court heard she initially tried to laugh it off but Tweed soon became "more heavy-handed" and the situation changed when Davis stood inside the bedroom and told Tweed: "Don't worry Jack, I've got the door, do what you've got to do."

She said Tweed raped her by the window sill and, as she tried to escape, pushed her on to the bed.

Tweed then raped her again, with Davis orally raping her at the same time, the court heard.

Tweed, who married Big Brother star Goody, 27, shortly before she lost her battle against cervical cancer in March 2009, and estate agent Davis, of Stradbroke Drive, Chigwell, Essex, are both on bail.

Tweed, who wore an open-neck white shirt and grey cardigan with a wedding band on his left hand, denies two counts of rape, while Davis denies one count of the same charge.

Asked by his defence counsel Ronald Jaffa if he kissed the teenager on her neck before the incident in the bedroom, Tweed said he could not remember but admitted that might have been true.

But he denied pushing her back on the sofa.

Giving evidence today, Tweed portrayed himself as a gentleman who was trying to save the woman's modesty.

While the pair were having sex against the window sill, someone opened the door to the bedroom, the court heard.

Tweed said: "I didn't turn round, I just sort of stepped away.

"I didn't move out the way because obviously she's got her legs open. It would be a bit embarrassing for her."

After the pair moved to the bed, Tweed described how he was holding himself up over the woman's body with either his hands or his elbows.

"I didn't want to squash her," he said.

Tweed added that the woman gave no indication that she did not want to have sex.

"We were still kissing, then she lied back."

Asked why he stopped shortly after Davis joined in, he said: "I lost my erection."

Tweed told the court he was "tipsy" after drinking several beers and vodka lemonades, but added: "I knew what I was doing though."

Earlier, Tweed said he talked to a lot of people in his job as a club promoter.

"Quite a lot of them ask me about Jade and a few ask me for a photograph," he said.

"General chat really."

He also told the court how, before going to the club, he had visited his mother's house.

"I got my hair cut," he said.

"My mum cuts my hair."