Joseph Eubank, 27, said he could not smell alcohol on the 16-year-old who has told a jury she was too drunk to stand.
Giving evidence in the witness box at Lewes Crown Court today, the youngest son of former champ Chris Eubank Snr denied two counts of rape.
He told the jury he thought police would have worked out he was innocent long before getting to trial.
“Moving forward, I’m going to have to be a lot more sensible,” Eubank said.
He told the court he had not been drinking on the night he spotted the teenager after leaving a seafront casino.
She was saying goodbye to friends and did not appear drunk, he said.
Earlier the court heard the young woman had been celebrating a friend’s 16th birthday drinking neat vodka on Brighton beach in July 2022.
Eubank, of Hill Drive, Hove, said he approached the teenager who he assumed was university student age.
After a brief conversation, Eubank said they started walking towards the beach.
Asked if anything was discussed about what they might do on the beach, he said: “No, it wasn’t.
“However, the body language we were expressing to each other was very clear. There was smirks and smiles.”
Eubank said he helped the teenager up when she stumbled on the stones and gave her his arm to steady herself.
He stopped when they reached a secluded place on the beach near the Palace Pier.
“I decided to stop there.
“It was a secluded part of the beach, not many people were there. It was quiet and as I mentioned before, we both had the intentions to do something that was better suited in private.
“As I was kissing her, she stopped and asked me how old I was.
“I said 25, which I was at the time. She said she was 16. I pulled back, gasped.
“I said: ‘Oh s**t.
“She said: ‘No, no, no, it’s fine, don’t worry’. After that she came back onto me to kiss. We started kissing again. It picked up fairly quickly.”
Eubank said the girl then performed oral sex on him. Asked if he had forced her, he said: “Absolutely not.”
Eubank said they then had sex.
Earlier the court heard friends found the young woman hysterical and crying, saying she had been raped.
READ MORE: Teenage girl at centre of Eubank rape trial accused of ‘exaggerating’
Kate Blackwell KC, defending, asked Eubank if he had reflected on leaving the girl on the beach on her own.
“I think if I hadn’t have done that, I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Eubank said.
“I knew she was 16 at that time.
“I think I should have stayed with her for a little while longer.
“I was with her for no longer than 25 minutes.”
Eubank said he remained on the seafront for another 30 to 45 minutes and did not see the young woman again.
Eubank confirmed he refused to give police the passcode for his iPhone.
“Before all this happened, one of my family members passed away,” he said.
“My father was going through a difficult time mentally and I didn’t want anybody having access to my phone.”
Asked if there was anything on his phone he did not want police to find, he said: “No.”
Beverly Cripps, prosecuting, asked him: “Did you not think it would have been sensible, like anybody who has been falsely accused as you say you are, to give police access to your phone?”
“Moving forward, I’m going to have to be a lot more sensible,” he said.
Ms Cripps told him: “You saw a drunk young girl, thought you could take advantage of her, took her to a dark secluded place on the beach and raped her.”
“That is incorrect,” Eubank said.
The court heard the girl had lost her phone before meeting Eubank.
Ms Cripps asked Eubank if he had given the teenager his correct name and surname.
“I gave her my snapchat, so she would have had my full name.
“She would only have known my surname after accessing her snapchat.”
Eubank said he sent the teenager a message after the sex saying: “Hey pup, are you ready for round two.”
Ms Cripps asked him: “Did you think that might sound a bit intimidating to this girl?”
He denied not knowing her name.
“It’s a term (pup) I use from time to time with some of the women I speak to,” Eubank said.
“It was sent to intimidate her, wasn’t it,” Ms Cripps asked.
“No, it wasn’t,” Eubank said.
Judge Christine Laing KC asked if Eubank could smell alcohol on the 16-year-old or notice anything else which might indicate she had been drinking,
Eubank said: “Your honour, it might be strange, but I did not.”
Joseph Eubank denies two counts of rape.
The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.
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