A 13-year-old boy woke to find himself being raped by a man who had given him cannabis and a “drugged” cup of tea, a jury heard.

A jury at Carlisle Crown Court heard the account outlined in a video taped interview which police did with the alleged victim years after the attack was said to have happened.

It was played on the first day of the trial of Vincent Joseph Hudson.

The 54-year-old defendant, of Loweswater Avenue, Whitehaven, denies rape.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Robert Wyn-Jones said the victim was in his 20s when he contacted police to formally make the allegation.

The barrister said during the 1990s when the rape is said to have happened, the defendant was known to sell cannabis to boys who visited him at his home in Whitehaven. 

Boys were known to visit the address to drink and smoke cannabis.

Referring to the alleged victim’s account, the barrister said: “He recalled going to the address, being given a joint and a cup of tea.

"He suspects that cup of tea was drugged because he passed out and the next recollection he has is of coming round.

"The sky [outside] had become significantly darker, so quite a significant period of time had passed.”

The boy recalled seeing Hudson standing over him and that there was another man in the room. 

Mr Wyn-Jones said: “He left the house feeling very groggy.

“He told the police that he forced himself to believe that this hadn’t happened. It had been a dream.

“He told himself to make a box in his head and put the memories in there. That was something he had seen on TV and so that’s what he decided to do with this memory and he then did his best to get on with his life.”

After what happened, said Mr Wyn-Jones, the boy’s mother noticed a change in her son.

“He became noticeably secretive. Increasingly over the years he found it difficult to cope with what had happened to him.”

Unable to suppress the memory, he eventually told his mother. 

In his account to police, the boy – now an adult in his 20s – said: “I remember coming round while it was still happening.

“I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even open my eyes.”

He said Hudson told him he had fallen asleep. 

The trial continues.