A TEENAGE girl was raped in a cornfield during a young farmers' party by a man who put his hand over her mouth and told her to shut up, a court heard.

The girl, aged 17, had been attending a party organised by the Essex Young Farmers group when she reported she was taken into a secluded area, pushed to the ground and raped.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard after carrying out a sexual assault lasting no longer than a minute, the attacker stood up and said “you’re of no more use to me”.

Police retrieved a list of the approximately 300 attendees at the party that night, which was held at a “remote” barn in Lawford on July 8, 2017.

Officers contacted all of the men they could identify from the list, requesting samples of their DNA.

Harry Parkes, 26, attended a police station in February 2019 and gave a sample, which matched DNA samples taken from the girl.

Parkes was arrested and later charged with rape, a charge he denies.

Opening a trial before a jury of 12, Robert Brown, prosecuting, said the party required wristband entry priced at £20 before free drinks were available.

The girl, attending the party with friends, had pretended she was 18, received an adult wristband and had access to the bar.

She told police she consumed around 11 drinks including cocktails and shots.

She reported she was approached by a man while she waited in a queue for the portaloos outside the barn.

Mr Brown said: “She didn’t know this man, but said he was taller than her. He said he was 22, he put his arm around her and said ‘hello beautiful’, and she started to chat with him.”

The court heard the pair moved from the queue to some nearby parked cars, where they shared a brief kiss.

Mr Brown said the girl reported she was “quite drunk” and “stumbled over several times” as she walked.

The court heard the man said the pair should “go for a walk”.

Mr Brown said: “She said she didn’t want to go, but he was quite aggressive and effectively made her go with him.

“She recalled going through a metal gate into the field, and once in the field she says he pushed her over onto what she describes as corn.”

Describing the alleged rape in police interview, played for the jury, the girl said: “I was getting louder and louder, screaming ‘no, please no’ and he then put his hand over me and told me to shut the f*** up.”

Moving on to describe the aftermath, she said: “He just got up, pulled up his trousers, said ‘you’re of no more use to me’ and then walked off.

“I tried to get up straight away, but I was in pain and shock, I just got up and fell straight back down.”

The girl told police she remembered waking up in the arms of a sympathetic stranger.

She said: “I started screaming and crying and trying to tell them what had happened.

“I kept on saying ‘he’s going to get me, he’s not going to get me anymore is he?’

“They were very confused, then I remember the police coming.”

Parkes, of Lancaster Approach, Colchester, gave a full account in police interview, denying any rape had taken place, instead insisting the girl had performed consensual oral sex on him.

Mr Brown said: “He said he did not have sexual intercourse with her at all, that simply did not happen.”