Thomas Earle takes the stand, accused of rape in ACT Supreme Court trial

Thomas Earle, 26, of Weetangera, gave evidence during a jury trial against him in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.

He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of act of indecency without consent.

Earle is accused of raping a woman he met on the dating app Hinge. The pair had dated for about a month before deciding to be friends.

The court heard that on December 29, 2021, the woman invited Earle to her home for dinner and they smoked marijuana, drank alcohol and shared jungle juice.

The prosecution states they then watched a movie in the loungeroom and the woman went to bed while Earle stayed up.

It is alleged the woman awoke at around 2am to find the accused spooning her and touching her genitals.

Earle is accused of then raping her in three different ways.

In a police interview with the accused, recorded in March 2022 and played to the court on Wednesday, Earle told police he had sex with the woman without verbal consent.

He said the woman had not pushed him away and "she seemed to like it, so I kept going".

In the video, Earle said he had erectile problems in the past and that night "it was working so I think I rushed into it a little bit".

"I think I got a little bit excited because I hadn't been able to have sex in a long time."

In evidence, Earle claimed his understanding of consent at the time was "quite narrow" and he had taken her movements as "an inviting gesture".

During cross-examination, prosecutor Beth Morrisroe quizzed Earle on discrepancies between his evidence given in court and the police interview.

Earle admitted information he gave to police - that he had verbally asked for consent on previous occasions - was inaccurate.

Earle told police that on the night in question, he and the woman had gone to bed at the same time and she fell asleep straight away.

In both accounts, Earle said he couldn't sleep due to the heat and went outside to get fresh air for about 40 minutes before going back to bed.

However, he said to police that upon returning to bed he spooned the woman, who woke up, and they kissed before engaging in sexual intercourse.

In court, he said he had fallen asleep after returning to bed and later woke up spooning the woman.

He claimed she then awoke and they kissed before having sex.

The prosecution argued the pair had not kissed and the woman had "frozen" in a fear response.

The court heard after the alleged rape, Earle had apologised for his "awful behaviour" via text message.

On the stand, Earle claimed he didn't know exactly what the woman was upset about at the time but thought she might have been sick from the drugs or he'd hurt her physically.

He told the court he also considered she might not have consented.

"I was just trying to say things to make her feel better, bring myself down," he said.

Questioned by defence barrister James Sabharwal, Earle maintained he had believed, at the time, the sex had been consensual.

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Earle also said he had not sought legal representation before the police interview.

"I didn't have any time to prepare for any of this. I was called about [the allegations] in the afternoon and was [at the police station] within half an hour," Earle said.

The trial is set to continue on Thursday.

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