A 13-year-old girl was raped in a field by a teenage boy she had just met, a jury was told.

Lee Francis, 18, is alleged to have forced the girl to have sex before running off with her mobile phone, leaving her alone in the dark.

Francis, of Rillside, Furnace Green, Crawley, denies rape.

A Lewes Crown Court jury was told the alleged attack took place on the night of April 7 last year.

In a video recording of an interview the schoolgirl gave to police, which was shown to the jury, the alleged victim said: "He grabbed my wrist. He pushed me against a tree.

"He said Do you want this?' and I said No'.

"I didn't want it to happen. I just wanted to try to get away."

Alexandra Healy, prosecuting, told the court the girl and a friend, who had both been drinking cherry Lambrini, were in Horsham town centre when they met a group of teenagers from Crawley, including Francis.

They chatted for a while in West Street and the teenagers told the girls they were going to a party.

After a while the alleged victim and her friend walked away from the rest of the group with Francis and another boy. Near Tanbridge School, they took a footpath leading to a field.

The alleged victim became aware that her friend and one of the boys had gone off together, she believed to have sex.

She claims that Francis, who was 17 at the time, led her towards a tree at the edge of the field where he raped her despite her protests.

She later told police she repeatedly coughed loudly during her ordeal because she was trying to attract the attention of her friend.

She claims Francis stopped when he heard a noise like a person sneezing loudly or blowing their nose.

She said as they walked out of the field she was shouting out her friend's name but there was no answer.

Francis said he wanted to telephone her friend and took her mobile phone and ran off, leaving her alone.

She said: "I shouted Oi, come back'. He carried on running."

Ms Healy said later that night a text was sent to the mobile phone belonging to the alleged victim's friend.

The message referred to Francis as Jay and stated: "I have been told Jay did not rape her. He just robbed her."

The girl, who was upset and whose clothes were muddy, walked back to Horsham town centre where she met up with some friends and told them about the alleged rape. They called the police.

When Francis was arrested he denied he had forced the girl to have sex. He told police she was a willing participant and had initiated what happened between them.

He said when he picked up the girl's phone he suddenly became aware of a group of boys shouting nearby.

Without thinking, he ran away in case there was trouble. He said he dropped the phone.

The trial continues.