Aristocrat 'had slept with girl for a week'

Accused: James Murray denies claims of rape

An aristocrat accused of raping a teenage girl said today he had been sleeping with her for more than a week.

The Hon James Murray, 41, the son of the Earl of Mansfield, told police he had sex with the teenager "up to half a dozen" times in the eight or nine days before the alleged attack.

Oxford crown court has been told that Old Etonian Murray carried out the rape in June 2010 after getting the girl drunk on vodka. She was one of a group of teenage friends who used to visit his Oxford flat to drink, smoke, play on his laptop and listen to music.

In a police interview read to the jury today, Murray said he had been trying to "engage" with youngsters who gathered outside his house, because there had been security problems with bicycles and post going missing.

He developed a "soft spot" for the alleged victim, saying he felt he was offering her a "safe haven". She was a foster child, but would rather sleep in the park than go home. For about 10 days before the alleged attack, the girl slept at his house every night.

He said sex began after she had made "suggestive" noises to him on the phone. The court heard no evidence of alcohol had been found in the alleged victim, but tests were performed 19 hours later and it could have been eliminated. Murray denies rape.

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