A MAN accused of raping a woman in a hostel bunk bed told witnesses it was “natural”.

Ivan Filignano told a night porter the woman had consented when he was confronted at the King’s Arms Hostel, in George Street, Brighton, on August 23 last year.

The 23-year-old victim came back to her dormitory at about 1am, according to prosecutor Piers Reed.

Filignano, 30, who was already in the room, began touching her, pushed her onto her bottom bunk bed and began to rape her, it is alleged.

The defendant, of Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London, went on trial yesterday at Hove Crown Court after pleading not guilty to rape and sexual assault.

Dennis Baker was sleeping in another bunk nearby and heard the woman telling the Italian national to stop and begin to cry.

The attack ended when Mr Baker got down from his bunk, told Filignano to leave her alone, and went downstairs to alert night porter Adrien Kingslow.

Filignano was pulled out of the bedroom and told by the night porter: “We are in the UK, you don’t do that, no means no.”

But Filignano told him she had consented, adding: “You’re a man, she’s a woman, you’ll understand. It’s natural.” The victim was moved to another room and Filignano was evicted the following morning.

The victim told the police a few days later and Filignano was issued as wanted.

He was arrested at Heathrow Airport and brought back to Brighton for questioning.

When Filignano was interviewed he claimed he got into bed with the victim after seeing her “wiggling her bottom at him and his friends”.

Mr Reed added: “He said she said ‘stop, stop’ because the bed was creaking and someone else in the room was telling them to be quiet.”

Mr Reed suggested the jury approach what Filignano says with a “degree of care” as English was not his “mother tongue”.

The case continues.