A MAN pulled out a machete and raped a prostitute in the middle of a cemetery, a court heard.

A jury heard Kye Lewis had picked up a prostitute in Ambleside Drive, in Southend, in the early hours of the morning.

There was an agreement she would perform an oral sex act on him for cash payment.

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The 20-year-old is then said to have driven off with the woman, taking her to a cemetery in Southend, despite requests from the woman to pull up somewhere nearer Ambleside Drive, where she felt “safer” to work.

Noel Casey, prosecuting at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, told the jury Lewis pulled up in the cemetery but kept the headlights on and engine running.

He said: “When he stopped the car in the far corner of the cemetery, he produced a large machete style knife, so large that he had difficulty getting it out of the car door compartment, but when he did, he told her ‘you’re going to get raped now’ before getting out of the car and walking around to the passenger side.

“The woman had not consented to full sexual intercourse, she only performed oral sex.”

Mr Casey said the woman was then placed on the bonnet of the car and raped twice by Lewis, once vaginally and once orally, before he stole her handbag and left her there.

Mr Casey added: “At the point of the oral sex, there was no consent on her behalf. She asked him for her bag back which he refused, but he gave her back her underwear and shorts before driving off.”

The jury was told Lewis, of Archer Avenue, Southend, had always admitted to having oral sex with the woman but that it was consented, and denies raping her or stealing her bag.

Lewis is on trial, charged with two counts of rape and theft relating to alleged incidents that took place in July 2017.

The trial, which is expected to last at least two days, continues.