A BLAENAU Gwent man accused of a string of sexual offences raped a teenage girl after she was sick from a bottle of rum he forced her to drink, a court heard earlier today.

Christopher Nevill, aged 44, of Maeshafod, Blaina, had previously pleaded not guilty to 28 of the 43 charges against him, a jury at Newport Crown Court heard.

These include 14 counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault. He had been on remand.

Among the 15 charges he has pleaded guilty to include taking indecent images of children.

The charges relate to alleged offences committed against two victims over a ten-year period.

Newport Crown Court heard the police interview of the first alleged victim today.

In the interview, she claimed that on one occasion, Nevill forced her to drink a litre bottle of rum “so that it would relax me”.

She said that she was then sick and begged him to call an ambulance. Instead, she alleges, he gave her a glass of water before raping her.

She detailed how Nevill had a silver metal briefcase, where he kept remote controlled sex toys, bondage gear and recordings of his sexual activity with her.

In her police interview, she claimed that Nevill, who gave her a promise ring in a “marriage that was not an actual marriage” and that he was “violent” when it came to sex.

She said: “I wanted it to stop. He was saying I was denying it and was enjoying it just as much as him. He told me to shut my eyes and put a gag on me so I couldn’t see anything. He would do whatever he wanted to me.”

The court also heard evidence via video link from the alleged victim, where a love letter she admitted writing to Nevill as a teenager was used as evidence by the defence.

In the letter, found by police after Nevill’s arrest, she wrote that she loved him “so much” and that it hurt her to think of him with “someone else”.

Under cross-examination from defence barrister Ieuan Bennett, the alleged victim admitted that it was a request for further sexual contact and that she was “looking for love”.

Mr Bennett queried: “Is it right to say you enjoyed it?”

The alleged victim replied: “Yes, I did enjoy what was going on. I was told to enjoy it. I gave up saying no.”

The court is to hear a police interview from the second alleged victim tomorrow.

Proceeding.