A man raped two 13-year-old girls after accusing them of getting him beaten up, a court heard.

Akim Okumu, 24, allegedly subjected the girls to the terrifying ordeal after an all-night party in May.

He had met the girls, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, outside the bingo hall in Cowley Road, Oxford, and invited them back to a nearby flat.

He then raped them, beat them up and threatened them, a jury at Oxford Crown Court was told yesterday. Okumu, of Hillside, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, denies two charges of rape.

Nigel Daly, prosecuting, told the court that Okumu left the flat and went to a nearby kebab shop. He said: "When he returned, it was clear he had been in some sort of fight. "He was bleeding and behaving in an aggressive manner and he appeared to blame this on the girls."

The girls were scared by Okumu's behaviour and left, but one went back when she realised she had left her keys.

Mr Daly added: "When she got there the defendant was still in a bad temper. As she went to leave, he grabbed hold of her, forced her into the room and told her to take her clothes off.

"When she refused he grabbed her by the throat and then raped her."

When the other girl went to see what had happened to her friend, she too was raped. Okumu then left the flat but told the girls not to leave or he would beat them up. They called the police on a mobile phone and Okumu was arrested the following afternoon.

Although DNA tests revealed that Okumu had had intercourse with both girls, he claimed it was with their consent.

The trial continues.

Story date: Tuesday 07 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.