Man gives evidence in alleged rape case

A Russian man accused of rape told a jury he danced with his alleged victim and kissed her before they walked hand in hand to his bedroom and took off their clothes.

Giving evidence through an interpreter, Sergei Serjakov admitted he had full sexual intercourse with the 55-year-old widow, who claims he raped her, but maintained the sex was consensual.

The 52-year-old father of two is charged with detaining his alleged victim against her will in his flat in Dens Road, Dundee, on October 2 2018, ripping open her shirt, pulling down her lower clothing, pinning her down on his bed and raping her.

He is also charged with sexually assaulting the 25-year-old daughter of his alleged victim’s female workmate in a pub in Dundee more than a year before the rape incident.

Giving evidence in his own defence yesterday, Serjakov admitted he had an odd way of locking the front door of his flat using screws and an electric drill.

He said he had locked the door using the screws after the woman came into his home around 6pm on the night of the alleged incident.

“Almost immediately after that we started dancing and had a drink.

“We came closer to each other and started kissing.

“We were quite affected by the vodka but I didn’t think about it.”

Asked if the woman was also affected by the alcohol, he answered: “Of course, yeah. We were drinking, so the way it affected me it also affected her.

“After we kissed we went into the bedroom. It was mutual.”

He said it seemed to him that she wanted that to happen, adding: “We were holding hands as we walked to the bedroom together.”

He said he remembered finishing the vodka and asking the woman if she had more drink at home before he fell asleep.

When the woman woke him up shortly before 10 o’clock she had her pyjamas and trainers on. She said she wanted to leave and asked him to open the door, which he did.

He told the High Court in Livingston that he had come to work in Scotland in 2006 but his wife left him for another man shortly afterwards, and he was made redundant from his job in a kitchen furniture factory three or four years later.

The trial, before Lady Carmichael, continues.