A SOLDIER accused of raping a Chepstow woman text her 'sorry' because he believed he had seduced her into breaking her rules on dating.

Tobias Scott, 31, of Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Thatcham, is on trial at Newport Crown Court for one count of rape. He denies the allegation.

On Monday, the jury heard the alleged victim said she had fallen asleep on the sofa next to Scott and woke up to find him having sex with her.

The mechanical engineer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers regiment of the British Army told the jury yesterday that he and the woman were having a 'petting session' on the sofa watching films while her two children were upstairs asleep on February 9.

Scott said this later lead to the pair having consensual sex.

He said: "She was reacting positively, pushing against me and making pleasant noises but what I can only describe as a light switch, one minute she was there and the next minute she had jumped up and was in an angry state. She said what are you doing?

"I was confused at her response."

The jury heard that the woman left the room and the pair then exchanged text messages. Scott sent a text which said: "So sorry babe, I feel awful. Please don't hate me."

To which the alleged victim replied: '"I can't be more insulted than I am right now."

During cross examination by Janet McDonald for the prosecution, Scott told the court that after the alleged rape he was 'feeling the worst' about the woman's reaction.

He said: "I was bemused, unsure about everything. I was confused more than anything."

The alleged victim sent a text at 4.02pm later that day which said 'You raped me' to which Scott replied, 'Sorry.'

He said: "There was a high level of confusion, I was in shock. I sent the reply seven seconds later.

"I felt at the time that I had seduced her - there was a bad feeling."

He added: "I was apologising for her feeling that way not saying sorry for raping you."

Scott told the court that the alleged victim had told him on numerous occasions they were not going to have sex with each other that night as the children were in the house and she wanted to get to know him better.

Scott said he had apologised because he felt like he had made her break her rules.

Proceeding.