A MAN twice raped a woman suffering from depression after first threatening to kill her, a court heard yesterday.

She told police she felt unable to resist 30-year-old Peter Biggins who had a thumb and finger around her throat, said Christopher Attwooll, prosecuting.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was raped twice and sexually assaulted by Mr Biggins after they left Hartlepool's Cotton Club together.

Mr Attwooll said that Mr Biggins took the frightened woman into an old tunnel where he punched her in the stomach and ripped her clothes, before warning that he would kill her unless she did as she was told.

After the attack, Mr Biggins walked off with her pants and her bag, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Mr Attwooll said that the woman, who had been drinking, made her way to a nearby street where she found a patrolling police officer and told him she had been raped.

He said that the woman, who had taken amphetamine and medicine to combat depression, had gone to the Cotton Club with friends.

Her friends, he said, left, and she discovered that her purse, containing her money, had been stolen while Mr Biggins was speaking to her.

The jury was told that he asked her to go home with him, but she replied that she was not interested.

When the club closed, he bought the woman something to eat and offered her £10 if she would go back with him. She again refused, but said he could walk her to the top of Church Street, Mr Attwooll said.

Mr Biggins, of Brierton Lane, Hartlepool, denies two charges of rape and one of indecent assault on Friday, September 29, 2000.

The court heard that in police interview, Mr Biggins said he and the woman had consensual sex in the tunnel, but he left when she asked for £40.

He said that the woman was perfectly all right when he left.

The case continues.