A man accused of raping a woman in an Oxford tower block, told police the sex was consensual and he had no idea she was a prostitute.

Zelalem Netsanet, of Peregrine Road, Blackbird Leys, denies three counts of raping the woman in Hockmore Tower, Cowley, on April 5.

Jurors heard the defendant’s police interview on day three of his trial at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Netsanet, 24, said he saw the woman looking as though she had lost something near bins at the foot of the tower block at about 4am and invited her in for a drink.

He said she followed him up the stairs and she initiated a sex act on a landing.

Netsanet told police: “I admit we had sex. I didn’t force her in any way, I didn’t swear or became physically aggressive.

“At the end she said I have to pay her £20 and I refused.”

He added: “I didn’t know that she was one of them girls that have sex for money. She never asked me for money for sex (to begin with), it was in the end when I finished she said ‘give me £20’.

“I said to her ‘do you want to come in for a drink’, and she said ‘do you have any money?’ “I thought she was talking about buying alcohol. I will never pay for sex and never have done.”

The trial continues.