A young secretary who accused her boss of raping her sent him a friendly email minutes after the alleged attack, a court heard.

Seeboard office manager Kevin Newnham, 41, of Chorley Avenue, Saltdean, is accused of following the woman to an office toilet, forcing his way into her cubicle and carrying out the attack as his staff worked yards away.

Hove Crown Court heard yesterday that an email message saying "Are you okay? You are very quiet" was sent from the woman's computer.

The woman told the court she had no idea how the message was sent.

She said she had been in shock after father-of-two Newnham, who denies a charge of rape, allegedly pinned her down in the cubicle.

Narita Bahra, defending Newnham, accused the woman of lying about the attack, referring to her behaviour after the alleged incident in September last year.

The secretary said: "I did not send that email - I know I did not send it."

Miss Bahra said: "You did send it and the reason why you are saying you did not is because you know someone who has been raped would not send it to their rapist.

"I suggest you sent that email and you got the reply of 'I'm very, very busy' and you did not like being ignored. You have made up the whole of this allegation."

Miss Bahra said there were inconsistencies between the woman's statement to police and her testimony in court, including how she was held down between a toilet and a sanitary towel bin and whether she had screamed or not.

Miss Bahra said: "This incident would have been the most horrific incident of your life. You said it seemed like ages even if it only went on for a short time.

"What happened would be clear in your mind.

"Why did you not run out or scream? Do you accept that if you shouted with the door open, people in the office would have heard? Instead you stepped back and let him close the toilet door."

The attack was said to have stopped abruptly when the secretary kicked Newnham between the legs.

Miss Bahra said she doubted the secretary would have been able to do so while in the position she described to the court.

The case continues.