A PREGNANT woman was raped in her home by a worker she invited in for a cup of coffee after his vehicle broke down in her street, a court heard yesterday.

Television licensing official Gary Catterick is alleged to have attacked the householder as he waited for the AA to come to fix his car in last November’s snow.

Mr Catterick, 49, from Middlesbrough, denies the charge, although he admits he had sex with the woman, but claims it was consensual and instigated by her.

He claimed after his arrest he had acted as a gentleman and had been “egged on” by the woman, Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court.

The court heard how Mr Catterick was invited into a house in Grangetown, Middlesbrough, when he could not get his car to start during inspections on November 29.

He was given a cup of tea and the chance to stay warm by a couple, but left and returned to his vehicle when they got ready to go out, Miss Mallett said.

Miss Mallett told a jury the woman thought the way Mr Catterick “looked her up and down” when she came downstairs was “creepy”.

After going back to his car and shivering as he waited to be rescued, he was invited into the home of a neighbour who felt sorry for him, the court was told.

Mr Catterick claims he was asked about his sex life by the woman, who later changed into her pyjamas and sat in a chair in front of him a provocative way.

His accuser told police that it was Mr Catterick who brought up the subject of sex, kissed her out of the blue and then forced himself upon her.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raised the alarm with a neighbour, who rushed to her house and then called police, the court heard.

Miss Mallett said: “She [the alleged victim] appeared crying, shaking and difficult to understand... her neighbour describes that she was hysterical.

“When the defendant was arrested, the officer described him as being completely unmoved by the allegation, and replied, calmly ‘I didn’t’.

“He maintained that account in interview. He said they had consensual sex. He said he had been a gentleman throughout and she egged him on.”

The trial continues.