Ex-downing Street aide on rape charge

A former Downing Street aide has appeared in court accused of raping a woman in a car in Edinburgh.

Mark Adams allegedly carried out the sex attack in Regent Road last August. The 56-year-old former private secretary to former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major pleaded not guilty at the High Court in Glasgow.

Prosecutors claim the woman was initially asleep in the car as well as being under the influence of alcohol. It is stated she was “incapable of giving or with-holding consent”.

The charge alleges that Mr Adams took off her clothes and sexually assaulted her. A hearing takes place next month.