A PROFESSIONAL rugby player did not listen to a woman’s demands to “pack it in” and raped her several times in her home, a jury heard.

Middlesbrough-born Zach Kibirige, 21, who plays for Newcastle Falcons, was invited over to watch a film and have a cuddle but “used fear and force to get what he wanted”, the prosecution alleged.

The England under-20 player denies four counts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration. He told police the encounter was unplanned but consensual.

Chris Smith, prosecuting, said Kibirige, who attended Yarm School, said to her “you know you want it - tell me you don’t want this” as he sexually assaulted her.

He told Newcastle Crown Court: “She didn’t want it and couldn’t tell him. Sometimes when you’re frightened it’s impossible to shout out. Fear takes hold.”

The prosecution alleged the woman, who cannot be identified, did not need to say “no” at that point as she had already told him what she expected when she invited him round to her home.

Mr Smith said: “She could not have been clearer because (she) had only invited this defendant round to her house for a film and a cuddle.”

The prosecution said it was spelled out in “black and white”, in Whatsapp messages they swapped prior to meeting in November.

Mr Smith said: “(She) had to say ‘no’ again to this defendant once he arrived at her house.

“She had to immediately before the sexual assault when the defendant had started kissing and touching her in ways she did not want and so she told him to pack it in, but the request went ignored.

The complainant told a friend what had happened, and she furiously sent him an online message, accusing him of rape.

Mr Smith said: “His reply? Silence.”

After he was arrested he told police the encounter took no more than an hour, it was unplanned but consensual.

Mr Smith said Kibirige, of Melbourne Street, Newcastle, told police “he hadn’t even stopped to think to use the condom in his wallet”.

In a video of the complainant’s police interview, she said she met the defendant on the dating app Tinder.

The trial, which is expected to take around three days, continues.