A man with cerebral palsy allegedly raped a lesbian after persuading her to let him walk her home.

Jonathan Ingham, 20, had got talking to the woman in a pub and she invited him in to see her pet cat.

But prosecutor Robert Elias told a jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday that once inside the property, Ingham’s interest in the cat disappeared.

Mr Elias alleged the defendant pushed the middle-aged complainant on to a couch in the living area and raped her.

He said the woman managed to kick him away and threw him out of the house. As he left he told her not to tell anyone, it was claimed.

Mr Elias told the jury the defendant had been tried previously by another jury which failed to reach a verdict. He said it emerged very late in the trial that the defendant suffers from cerebral palsy, a serious medical condition that nobody had been aware of, and the trial had to be abandoned.

Mr Elias said: “That (condition) may have relevance to his physical strength, he is withered to his right side.

“It is an important feature of the case the lawyers did not know about. The defendant has a not insignificant physical disability.”

The prosecutor said the alleged offence happened in October 2008.

The complainant was having a drink with a woman friend. The defendant sat with them and joined in the conversation.

The complainant and her friend were talking about her cat and Ingham said he wanted to see it and wanted to walk her home.

Mr Elias said: “He kept going on and on and, in the end, she agreed.”

He said the complainant was clearly and unashamedly a lesbian and it was inconceivable the defendant would have thought she was going to consent to any sort of sexual behaviour.

The defendant was arrested after the victim complained to police two weeks later. He accepted walking her home but told police he had gone into the house at her invitation and nothing sexual had occurred.

Mr Elias said there was no medical evidence and added: “It is one person’s word against another. Somebody’s lying.

“It’s either a fabricated accusation, a wicked lie, or it is completely true.”

Ingham, of Carrbottom Avenue, Wibsey, has denied rape. The trial continues.