A 28-year-old man denies two rapes in Worcester after a jury heard about a previous sexual offence against a different woman three years earlier.

Luis Calado denies two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration in Worcester.

His trial continued at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday as the defendant, previously of Mill Street, Worcester, was cross-examined by Giles Nelson, prosecuting. The jury retired on Friday to consider verdicts.

The offences are alleged to have taken place on August 10 last year. During a tense exchange, Mr Nelson spoke of Calado’s attempts to call and text the defendant after the alleged attack.

“You knew by this stage your number was up and she was going to go to the police because you had raped her,” said Mr Nelson.

“Absolutely not,” replied Calado from the witness box.

Mr Nelson asked why Calado was trying to call her at 2.30am. Calado replied: “I didn’t know she had blocked my number.”

Mr Nelson put it to Calado that he was ‘perpetually trying to ring and text her’ but Calado said: “I don’t agree with that. That’s very incorrect.”

He referred to the previous sexual assault and said: “You have a propensity to sexually assault women.”

Calado replied: “Absolutely not Mr Nelson.”

In his closing speech Mr Nelson described the alleged rapes as taking place following 'a chance encounter' between the complainant and the defendant.

"I suggest to you that he knew, there and then, that she was vulnerable" he said.

Mr Nelson suggested there was 'an obvious, underlying vulnerability' and that he 'changed the tempo, knowing there was a vulnerability'

"He moved to get what he wanted which was sex whether she was going to consent to it or not" he said.

Mr Nelson said the complainant had become 'a sitting duck'. "He stepped into that type of physical contact within 30 minutes or so" he said.

The prosecutor compared the complainant to ‘sand’ and not granite when it came to ‘the tide’ of Calado’s actions. He said she had withdrawn consent.

“That didn’t bother Mr Calado at all. Sex was on his mind and he was going to get it, come what may. Mr Calado totally ignored her protestations. He made no effort to establish whether she wanted what he was doing, made no effort to ascertain whether she was consenting. He was more interested – or entirely interested – in his own gratification.

"He is, the prosecution say, a man with a propensity to behave in this way towards women. In those moments she doubtless felt utterly powerless.”

However, Simon Burns, defending, said in his closing speech that the prosecution had ‘exaggerated her vulnerability’ and that Calado had voluntarily attended a police interview.

“You may think he didn’t have anything to hide” he said to the jury.

Mr Burns said the sexual assault he had been convicted of took place three years before this allegation and that was ‘not a rape conviction’ and was ‘in entirely different, separate circumstances’.

“It would be extremely dangerous to make a connection between the two in my respectful submission” he said. Mr Burns also said the complainant had invited Calado into her flat and had ‘kissed him’.

“Did she resist, shout, push him off?” he said.

He said her comment of ‘no, let’s go outside’ was different from ‘no, get off, stop’. Mr Burns said she could have run out and got help or contacted a neighbour. “Why didn’t she?” he said.

He described her as having ‘every opportunity to raise the alarm’.

The trial continues.