A WOMAN has described how she ‘froze’ when waking up to find a man having sex with her.

The video interview, which she gave to police in 2020, was being shown to a jury in the trial of a Northwich businessman accused of raping her.

The 34-year-old woman, who cannot be named, told officers how she had known Benjamin James Kershaw for most of her life.

Kershaw, of Bishops Way in Winnington, denies he raped the woman on January 24, 2018, and will instead tell the jury how the pair had been in a relationship and that the sex was consensual.

Mark Connor, prosecuting at Chester Crown Court, explained the background to the case and the reasons why the woman didn’t come forward and report the matter to police until more than two years after the alleged incident.

“You will hear how this woman was raped in her own bed,” he told the jury.

“The defendant claims to have been in a relationship at the time and that the sex was consensual.

“The prosecution will make the case that it is complete fiction they were in a relationship.

“This is a case that essentially boils down to who is telling the truth.

“There are going to be two completely contrasting versions of what happened that night.

“Someone this week will be telling you the truth, and someone will be telling you lies.”

The court heard an audio recording of a 101-call made by the woman in September 2020, when she first reported the matter to the police.

She told the operator how she had known Kershaw, aged 41, for most of her life and how he had asked her out for drinks after talking at a party in December 2017.

“I’ve known him for a long time – although he’s much older than me – he’s very well known in Northwich,” she said.

“He’s got a reputation for being a bit cheeky and he asked me if wanted a drink, but I said no because I was driving.”

Kershaw invited the woman to a party in Manchester in the new year, and although she accepted, told how he got nasty when she revealed she was getting a cab home in the early hours.

“He told me he’d booked a room at the Hilton hotel, but I told him I was going home.

“He didn’t like that and got a bit nasty.

“At one point he even took my handbag off me. He threw it back at me as I got in a taxi and left.”

Later that month the woman said how Kershaw told her he had booked them a trip to Amsterdam for her 30th birthday, which she turned down, saying 'who does that?'.

The woman’s nan died quite suddenly on January 19 and on January 23 Kershaw showed up at her door with chocolates and flowers. She let him in, and the pair chatted and watched TV on the sofa before they both fell asleep.

Kershaw asked if he could stay, as he had a meeting in Crewe the next morning and didn’t want to drive back to Manchester, where he was living at the time.

“I really wish I didn’t let him in,” she said.

“I told him he could sleep on the sofa, but not long after going up to bed, he came up to my room.

“He asked if he could sleep in my bed.

“I get so angry with myself because I should have just told him to go back and sleep on the sofa.

“I made it clear I didn’t want him to try anything.

“I fell into a deep sleep and when I woke up, he was on top of me, having sex with me.

“I didn’t even do anything – I just froze.

“I didn’t tell him to get off me because I didn’t know what to do.

“It didn’t last long, no more than a minute.

“I remember rolling over and I just wanted it to be morning.”

Kershaw got up and left at around 6am the next morning and later, sent her a text message saying, 'last night was good' which she told police, 'repulsed me'.

The trial, which is expected to last for around three days, continues.