A man accused of raping a 13-year-old boy has told a jury: "This has never, ever happened."

Vincent Joseph Hudson, 54, gave evidence on day three of his trial at Carlisle Crown Court.

He has pleaded not guilty to one allegation of an historical rape which is said to have occurred at his flat.

The court had previously been told it was Hudson's contention he "doesn't know" the alleged victim.

And during the course of his evidence Hudson stated: "He has never visited my flat with anybody or on his own."

It has been claimed that Hudson gave the boy a "drugged" cup of tea prior to the alleged rape. But he insisted: "I have never spiked anybody in my life."

Hudson was cross-examined by prosecutor Robert Wyn Jones, who suggested: "You sexually assaulted him while he was unconscious, didn't you?"

Hudson replied: "No, I did not. This has never ever happened."

Mr Wyn Jones asked him: "Do you know of any reason he (the alleged victim) would have to invent this lie against you?"

Hudson responded: "No."

Mr Wyn Jones went on: "It is because it is true, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't true," Hudson said. "It never happened."

Details of Hudson's criminal past have been revealed during the trial.

Related articles:

Trial told of man's 'torment' after alleged rape

Boy, 13, was raped by man who had given him 'drugged' tea, court told

A number of years after the rape is alleged to have occurred, jurors heard, Hudson was convicted of four indecent assaults on two teenagers.

In these cases, the two male victims were said to have been "unconscious" at the time.

In response, Hudson admitted that at the time of those offences he did have a sexual interest in young boys.

"It isn't still with me," he told the jury.

Nor was that interest present at the time of the alleged rape, insisted Hudson, of Loweswater Avenue, Whitehaven.

The trial continues.