Murder accused John Heald denies forcing “rape victim” to dress up

MURDER accused John Heald has denied ordering a woman to change her underwear before he allegedly raped her.

Giving evidence this afternoon at Hull Crown Court, Heald said the woman had returned from a party and when she undressed in her bedroom she already had stockings, suspenders a thong and black bra on.

Heald, of Foljambe Road, Eastwood, said: “I said: ‘Wow, you look nice.’”

Mr Tahir Khan, defending, said: “In her evidence, she suggested you came upstairs with a knife."

Heald replied: “I didn't have any knife, I didn't do any of those things.”

Heald, who denies rape, said the couple then had sex around the house.

He claims the only time he touched a knife was when they went into the kitchen and he asked if she wanted a sandwich.

“I picked the knife up out of the rack and said: ‘I will do us a sandwich’, but she said no so I put it away”, Heald said.

The fencing worker, who also denies murdering guesthouse landlady Bei Carter, said he and the woman, who cannot be named, had sex in the kitchen, before which the woman went to check the front door was locked as she was concerned her daughter could walk in.

“Then we had sex on the sofa,” he said.

Dressed in jeans and a green shirt in court, Heald claimed the pair fell asleep together in her bed, and when he woke at around 4am she was gone.

After waiting until 6.30am for her, Heald said he then walked back to Rotherham from Sheffield.

"I tried texting her and phoning her but there was no reply,” he added.

When he reached Rotherham town centre, Heald said, he stopped at a bookmakers and went to Wilkos to buy a saw knife.

He said he had bought the knife because he had some plasterboard that needed cutting up.

The defendant said he then saw a bus for Denaby Main and decided to go and visit his friend John Ward.

He told the court he stayed at Mr Ward’s flat for a few days and they drank together, “visited town and Mexborough a few times”.

Heald said he asked his friend if he fancied going to Bridlington, but he ended up going on his own after getting his wages out of the bank in Doncaster.

Heald said he had never visited the Morayland Guesthouse — the scene of the alleged murder — before and it was "just chance" that he went there.

Mr Khan said Heald had been in trouble with the police when he was a young man, which the defendant said was because his dad would beat him and he would run away from him.

Mr Khan said: “we can see from the record you have some old convictions for threatening behaviour but as a grown man you have not got into trouble for fighting.”

The trial continues.