A COCKTAIL bar doorman accused of raping a stranger he met for ten minutes in a nightclub told a jury he was the one who was sexually assaulted.

Abderrfi Bahja said the woman twice put her hands down his trousers in Harvey's, in Houndgate, Darlington, and two more times as he gave her a lift home in his car.

The married 45-year-old claimed his experience of working in busy nightspots made him steer clear of drunken women as they could be "a danger".

He told Teesside Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, June 23) some females seek out foreign men for sex and there is a danger that false allegations could be made later.

In the witness box, Mr Bahja repeatedly denied he wanted sex with the married mother when they left the club together in the early hours of May 9 last year.

On the fourth day of his trial, he was cross-examined by prosecutor Joanne Kidd and claimed he was "offended" when the woman intimately grabbed him.

"I was not happy with that behaviour," said the Morocco-born economics graduate. "I moved her hand away immediately, and she said she was only playing.

"I didn't think she was that drunk. I thought she was a wise woman, a career woman, and would not make a complaint like that.

"She said she was missing sex but I told her she could not come back to my home. I said I would give her a lift to her home. I thought she wanted fun."

It is the prosecution's case Mr Bahja trawled the nightclub looking for lone and drunk women, targeted the pretty brunette and "zoomed in on her".

The defendant - who alsoworks as a delivery driver - said he had been working since 6am, was tired and not interested in a woman.

He said his passenger almost made him crash his Renault Megane by touching him intimately, and after he pulled over, she undid her clothes and sat on him.

He said he did not want to have sex, but did so briefly before realising it was wrong, and told the jury that he had been "naive and stupid".

During his evidence, he told his barrister, Christine Egerton: "She knew what she was doing, 100 per cent. She told me 'I am just looking for fun'.

Under cross-examination, Mr Bahja said he believed it 100 per cent that the professional woman would make up an allegation of rape to get compensation.

Mr Bahja, of Shelley Road, Darlington, denies rape. The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict tomorrow (Friday, June 24) after summing-up from the trial judge.