Crime: Girl aged 13 tells of rape by a friend from school

A teenage girl yesterday told a court that she was raped by a 13-year-old school friend in woodland near a disused railway line.

The victim, 12 at the time, described how she was dragged across a bridge, pushed against a fence, tripped up and raped by the boy in the Castlecroft area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Giving evidence at Wolverhampton Crown Court through a video link-up, she said: "He grabbed my hand and pulled me across the bridge, then he put his foot behind mine, tripped me up and got on top of me on the ground."

The girl, who cannot be named, said she could not bring herself to tell her parents about the incident last May, but later told a teacher. The boy, now aged 14, denies rape and indecent assault. Another boy, aged 15, also denies indecent assault relating to the incident.

Peter Cooke, for the prosecution, said the incident could be viewed "as an adolescent sexual experiment which quickly took a more nasty turn".

The trial continues.