A MAN charged with raping a 20-year-old woman in an Oxford hotel room told police he had consensual sex with his alleged victim.

Kirankumar Solanki, 29, of Cottesmore Road, Oxford, denies two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Opening the case on Monday at Oxford Crown Court, Graham Smith, prosecuting, told the jury the complainant was drinking at The Bridge nightclub in Hythe Bridge Street on September 3 last year.

He said she became drunk, could not remember leaving the club, and woke up in bed with the defendant on top of her in the Victoria House Hotel, in George Street, Oxford.

Yesterday, Mr Smith read an edited transcript of Solanki’s police interview in which he claimed the complainant told him: “Whatever you want, just do it”.

Asked what he thought she meant by that, the defendant, whose first language is Hindi, said: “I think she just like normal, like boyfriend and girlfriend.

“I’m not like rapist, I not think about that. Just like, as a girlfriend.”

He was questioned about what he meant by girlfriend and replied: “We both enjoyed that night, which is why I am saying like girlfriend.” The trial continues.