Woman 'agreed' to sex with cabbie

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A woman allegedly raped by a London cab driver had 'consented' to have sex with him, Croydon Crown Court has heard.

Giving evidence, John Worboys, 51, of Rotherhithe, south-east London, said the woman was conscious and had asked for pills thinking they were Ecstasy.

He denies 23 charges including rape and sexual assault, on 14 women.

He admitted sexual activity with some customers adding he had made up stories about winning money at a casino as "banter" to engage their interest.

Prosecutors claim Mr Worboys spent 18 months preying on young women he picked up outside nightspots across central London in his black cab and assaulting them after giving them spiked drinks.

'Vitamin pills'

Testifying in his defence the cabbie said he told the woman about winning £47,000 at a casino.

"I said I had some champagne and would she like to celebrate, and she said, 'yes', excitedly," Mr Worboys told the court.

He said he got in the back seat of the taxi to have a drink and during the conversation she told him she was a lesbian.

When he mentioned some drugs he takes to help him sleep and 'Es', which Mr Worboys said he meant were actually Vitamin E pills, the woman thought they were Ecstasy and agreed to have them. She said, 'I've got no boyfriend and I'm in a lot of debt' John Worboys, defendant

"I used to call them my vitamin Es," he said.

"I presume she thought it meant Ecstasy.

"She said she would love a pill, and because they were harmless I went and got her a vitamin pill."

He told the court they had oral sex at the back of the taxi.

Speaking about another customer who accused him of sexual assault Mr Worboys said when he asked her if she would have sex if offered £1,000 the woman agreed.

"I was quite shocked. She said, 'I've got no boyfriend and I'm in a lot of debt'," Mr Worboys told the court.

The woman put her hands on his tracksuit bottoms but he said they did not have any other physical contact.

The trial continues.