A MOTHER-of-two wept yesterday as she told a court how she was raped by her former husband in her own home.

The woman, who cannot be named, alleged she was attacked in the living room by her former partner - who she claimed had already indecently assaulted her on another occasion.

She told Teesside Crown Court that her ex-husband had been making suggestive sexual comments for years, despite them divorcing in 1993.

The victim said she had told the man, who also cannot be named, that she was not interested in him.

The couple kept in contact because of their two teenage children, the court heard.

On the night the alleged attack took place, on July 13, he visited her at her home in Wolsingham, Weardale, County Durham.

While sitting on the sofa, he pounced on her and grabbed her clothing before she broke free, the court was told.

"I adjusted myself but by that time, he was already on his feet, pulling his shorts off,", she told the court.

"I knew what his intentions were. I tried to get up, but he was pulling at my trousers. I said I do not want you to do this.

"He is a big bloke, much stronger than me. There was no way I could have prevented him from doing it.

"I felt like a piece of meat. He did not give a care that I did not want it."

The woman also alleged that he had indecently assaulted her in her kitchen seven months before the July incident.

Peter Johnson, prosecuting, said a solicitor's letter had been sent to the man after the couple divorced, warning him to stop making sexual comments.

He said that when arrested the man had said he had asked his ex-wife for sex but denied indecently assaulting her. He said on the later occasion that he had sex with her, but she had consented.

He denies rape and indecent assault.

The trial continues.