A MAN accused of raping a 15-year-old girl at his home in Dumbarton has told a jury any sex between the pair was consensual.

Joseph Duffy or Melville, 37, said that he was told she was 19.

He told his defence counsel Lorraine Glancy that the girl initiated the sexual contact at his flat in Bellsmyre, on March 16, 2019.

Duffy – named as Joseph Melville in court papers – told jurors at the High Court in Glasgow he was known as Joseph Duffy.

In evidence Duffy, who denies charge, said the pair met on Facebook.

He said: “She said she was 19 and I said I was 35 at the time.”

Duffy claimed the pair first met each other at his flat two days prior to the alleged rape incident.

READ MORE: Dumbarton man denies claims he raped girl, 15, at his home

Duffy stated the girl asked to come to his home for a drink.

Ms Glancy asked Duffy what happened when they got to his flat.

He said: “We sat on the couch together and she was quite bold, if you know what I mean.

“She took my clothes off and wanted me to play with her down there.”

The court viewed pictures of the pair taken that evening, which showed the girl lying on Duffy’s shoulders and smiling.

Duffy stated the girl later became annoyed because she did not have cigarettes, and began knocking on his neighbours' doors asking if they had any.

Miss Glancy asked why CCTV showed the girl leaving the flat during the night and chapping on doors.

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Duffy replied: “She was annoying my neighbours asking for cigarettes and skins, and I told her to bolt and go home.”

Miss Glancy said: “This was a young girl you invited to your home for the evening to stay, I presume.

“In the middle of the night, you told her not to stay any more?”

Duffy replied: “Yes, I told her to bolt and stop disrupting my close and my neighbours.”

He claimed the girl later returned to his flat and the pair had sex again before she left in the morning.

Duffy, an unemployed landscaper, denies raping the girl to her injury.

The trial, before judge Andrew Cubie, continues.

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