ONE of six defendants accused of taking part in the multiple rape of a woman in Southampton claimed they were all just “having fun” and she had decided to have sex with his housemates for money.

Taking to the stand at Southampton Crown Court on the first day of the defence, Mihaita Palie denied rape and told jurors he had consensual sex with the 20-year-old in his room after meeting her in a subway near the centre of town.

The 33-year-old said it was after they had sex she went into the bathroom and when she didn’t come back, he went to look for her and found her in another room with some of his housemates drinking whisky.

Talking through an interpreter he said: “She said she was staying inside the bedroom having sex with the guys for money.

“I asked her if she wanted to go back. She said no – she was staying, she was having fun.”

He went on to explain he left the room but later came back, sat on the bed with her, fooling around before calling over co-defendant Nicolae Ghinea to have sex with her, as seen in one of the video clips taken from the mobile phone of Cosmin Nicut.

After the court watched the clip, Palie said: “I know it is not a nice picture, what we are seeing, but then it was like fun, we were having fun.”

He also told jurors he had no idea that the incident was being filmed.

When asked about how he and the woman got to the house, he said he met her in the subway, having met twice previously, just a few weeks before the alleged rape on January 15.

He said the pair chatted and kissed, before he left her to buy a bottle of wine.

When he returned, he said she was where he had left her and they decided to go back to his home in Derby Road.

He said: “We were talking about the possibility of doing something that night. She said if we were to do it outside then maybe somebody would see us and take a picture of us and put it on the internet and that would be bad. I said my house and she said let’s go to your house.”

When asked if she showed any reluctance he replied: “No. Quite the contrary, she took my hand and said let’s go.”

He told the court that when they got to his house he made her wait outside, so that he could get permission from the head tenant to bring her inside.

They then went upstairs and had consensual sex.

He added: “She was happy, she was enjoying herself, she didn’t say anything about the child or having to go home.”

Earlier in the day the jury were directed to find Palie not guilty of one count of attempted rape and Nicut not guilty on one count of oral rape.

Palie, Nicut, 20, Octavian Militaru,37, Ion Matei, 41, Ghinea, 21 and a 13-year-old boy all deny the charges. Nicu is accused of one count of rape and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

Militaru faces two counts of rape and the others face one a charge each of rape.

The case continues.