A FORMER York student and star of University Challenge has gone on trial accused of raping a woman.

Bartolomeo Joly de Lotbiniere, 21, is charged with rape and assault by penetration when he was 19 and in his first year at the University of York.

Opening the prosecution at York Crown Court yesterday, Gerald Hendron said Joly de Lotbiniere and the alleged student victim, who was also 19 at the time, had been out with a group of friends before going home for the summer break.

They went back to the woman's Heslington halls of residence around 4am and she alleges he leaned in to kiss her when he was at her door.

It was alleged the University of York history graduate told her they should have sex because it would help her get over an ex-boyfriend.

The woman declined and went to a communal toilet and waited for ten minutes until she believed Joly de Lotbiniere had left, the court was told.

When she came out she walked into her room and, the prosecution say, Joly de Lotbiniere followed her in uninvited.

Mr Hendron said the defendant kissed the student and told her he had fantasised about her.

The prosecution say he was drunk and continued to take off her bra, jeans and top then lifted her up and carried her to a bed.

The woman said she "froze" and told police she was "really confused" about what was happening and "didn't know what was going on".

It is alleged he sexually touched her then had sex with her as she tried to push him off.

The prosecution say he left and told the woman "pretend this never happened and tell nobody about this".

The following morning, the woman told two of her friends.

A friend that had been out with them the night before noticed the woman was not herself and she said Barto, as the defendant is known, would not leave her room the previous night and forced herself on her.

Text messages obtained from the pair's mobile phones reveal Joly de Lotbiniere, of Bolton Gardens, London, apologised for his behaviour.

The woman sent him a message two days later and said she "wasn't overly comfortable" with the alleged events.

He replied saying he "did a very stupid thing" and apologised for being a "disgrace".

That was the last message sent between the pair until the following October when they encountered each other at a house party.

The woman felt uncomfortable around him and left, but Joly de Lotbiniere sent her a text message the same evening explaining he wanted to apologise in person.

Judy Khan QC, for the defence, said the defendant disputes the woman's story and said the sex was consensual.

She said the pair kissed for two minutes before the defendant told her "we should have sex, I'm going to get a condom".

When he returned the woman was said to be in her bed and he did not undress or carry her.

The accusations went unreported for 15 months before the woman spoke to police and Joly de Lotbiniere was arrested in September 2015.

The woman suggested that the 21-year-old's appearance on BBC2's University Challenge, which brought him considerable attention on social media due to his unusual surname, made her realise she had not got over the alleged rape.

She told police: "And then basically he was on University Challenge and it was just all over social media and certain tweets and I realised that a year on I still couldn't really... I knew something was up and I just wanted to do something about it.

"I saw a tweet from a fan and I just got angry and upset. It has really got to me. I think if I had been feeling fine about it I wouldn't have been feeling like I did."

Under cross examination, Judy Kahn QC, suggested the sex was consensual and the woman was regretful of what had happened because she had been under the influence of alcohol at the time.

She told the court that on the night in question she had drank a bottle of VK alcopop and one shot of Sambuca.

Miss Kahn suggested it was a "disastrous one night stand" and she had reinvented what happened.