TWO friends took it in turns to rape a woman in her living room, a court heard.

Claudiu Ivascu - who was known to the alleged victim - arranged to go to her home in Colchester with a friend after he had finished his night shift as a delivery driver.

The woman thought it was going to be a man she had met previously, but Ivascu arrived with Nicolae Mihai who she had never seen before.

The pair were clutching a crate of beers and Ivascu said it was his birthday and asked the woman if she would give him anything.

Both men continued drinking and put music on while Ivascu tried to make the woman dance with him while she was only wearing a nightdress.

As she felt uncomfortable, the woman went upstairs and put on a pair of shorts.

When she returned, Mihai said ‘it was not nice’ she had put the extra clothes on, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

Ivascu then asked her if she wanted a threesome, which she refused, and he offered her cash to take part.

She again turned down the offer, but the men then sat either side of her and Mihai touched her leg.

As she tried to fight him off, Ivascu allegedly grabbed hold of her arms while Mihai sexually assaulted her.

The court heard she continued to try to stop the men and bit Ivascu while he held her and Mihai raped her.

Straight afterwards, Ivascu got undressed, grabbed her by the arms again and raped her himself.

Children were in the house at the time of the incident in April 2017.

After the pair left, the woman told her mother what had happened and informed the police.

Ivascu, 23, and Mihai, 22, deny a joint charge of rape. Ivascu denies a singular charge of rape and Mihai denies sexual assault.

The jury were shown the woman’s interview with police. When asked if she had consented she said: “No - I told them I didn’t want it.

“I must have said no five times and they could have told by the way I was acting.”

She said Ivascu, of Sycamore Road, Colchester, was “ten out of ten” drunk and added she believed Mihai, of Albert Street, Colchester, was preparing to rape her again before being disturbed.

The pair had proceedings in court translated to them into Romanian.

n The trial continues