A MAN has gone on trial charged with sex offences dating back more than 20 years, after he was accused of befriending a teenage girl, plying her with cannabis and sexually assaulting her.

Gary Edwards is accused of raping the girl in the early 1990s, when she was a teenager and he was in his 20s.

Now 46, Edwards, of Wilmott Way, Winklebury, Basingstoke, denies sexually assaulting the girl and has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court heard that the pair first met at a youth club in Basingstoke in 1993.

Opening the trial, Nicholas Tucker, prosecuting, said: “She recalls him walking up behind her before abruptly telling her, ‘You’re mine.’”

The court was told Edwards encouraged the girl to hang out at his flat and smoke cannabis that he provided.

Mr Tucker said: “Soon, she was going every lunchtime and evening. He encouraged her to smoke cannabis before taking her to his bedroom where he would tell her to strip and have sex.

“Afterwards, he would go back downstairs, leaving her in the bedroom.”

The court heard the only time the girl said no, Edwards pushed her on to the bed and smashed up furniture before having “rough sex” with her.

Mr Tucker said the sexual relationship continued until the girl left school at 15, when she told him she wanted it to stop.

The court heard that she did not tell anyone about the sexual nature of their relationship until recently, and she reported it to the police in May last year after seeking counselling.

On Monday, the jurors watched a video interview with the alleged victim, who said she was too afraid to say no to Edwards.

She said he would regularly call her a “dirty slag” and punch her in the leg. She added: “I did as I was told. It completely and utterly controlled my life and took away my dignity. He did what he wanted.”

The court heard that when he was arrested, Edwards denied ever having sex with the girl or threatening her, and laughed at the suggestion of controlling her.

The alleged victim gave evidence on Tuesday, and under cross-examination from Adam Feast, defending Edwards, she faced questions about how old she was when she met the defendant.

She had initially told the jury on Tuesday that she met Edwards when she was 11 or 12, and that the sexual abuse started shortly afterwards.

But she later said she thought she was 12 going on 13 when she met Edwards in the youth club. She denied that he had not spoken to her at all at the youth club.

Mr Feast put it to the alleged victim that there was no sexual relationship, and that when she had been at Edwards’ house, she had gone to his bedroom to watch television.

He added: “You started by saying this went on for four years. Now you admit that was wrong.

“Are you trying to make it worse for Gary Edwards? Are you exaggerating a relationship that was completely non-sexual?”

She replied: “What, after 22 years? No, it’s the truth.”

The trial continues.