A MAN accused of rape has told jurors he was too 'ashamed' to admit the sex was consensual when he handed himself into police.

Michael Kinfe Tewelde denies pushing the alleged victim to the ground and raping him as he walked through a North East nature reserve.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Teesside Crown Court how he had offered to smoke a cannabis joint with his alleged attacker while he was walking near the Maze Park Nature Reserve, in Middlesbrough, at around 7.30pm on Thursday, April 29 this year.

When Tewelde was arrested he initially denied there had been any sexual contact with the man but then changed his story to the sex being ‘consensual’ between the pair.

Giving evidence, the married father-of-two told jurors that he hadn't told officers what had happened during the encounter because he was ashamed.

Speaking through an interpreter, he told the jury that it was his accuser he made advances towards him before engaging in sexual activity.

The defendant said the man wanted him to carry out a sex act on him but he refused before heading into some bushes where he admitted a sex act took place.

His defence counsel, Paul Newcombe, asked why he hadn't told police what had happened?

He replied: "It's not part of our culture or our religion, so I'm ashamed about what happened."

Earlier in the trial, jurors heard how when the attack was over, the man used his gym towel to wipe himself clean before walking home in an ‘agitated state’.

The police were called and a DNA sample was recovered from the towel and the hunt for his alleged attacker got underway with a public appeal for information.

The 36-year-old, of Leeds Street, central Stockton, pleaded not guilty to the allegation of rape.

In the prosecution's closing speech, Jonathan Walker, said Tewelde's version of events was 'highly unlikely'.

The trial continues.

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