Sussex police received a report that a woman had been raped on the lower esplanade in Brighton at about 5am on October 4.
Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, an Egyptian living in Horsham, has previously denied four counts of raping the same woman.
Ibrahim Alshafe, left, and Karin Al-Danasurt, right (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)
Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, an Iranian national living in Crewe, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, also Egyptian and living in Horsham, have each denied two counts of raping her.
Al-Danasurt has also pleaded not guilty to sharing three films of the alleged victim “in an intimate state” without her consent on October 14.
Al-Danasurt and Alshafe were living in a Home Office-run migrant hotel when the woman was attacked.
The three men sat next to interpreters in Hove Crown Court dock on Monday (March 16) as the jury of seven women and five men were sworn in.
The men are accused of dragging the 33-year-old woman onto the stone beach at Brighton before raping her.
Judge Christine Henson KC said the complainant has accepted voluntarily consuming alcohol prior to the alleged rape.
She warned jurors not to “fall into the trap” of thinking someone is “less worthy of belief” if they had drunk alcohol or, in some cases, taken illegal drugs.
The judge added: “It is important not to assume that that means they were looking for, or willing to, have sex.
“People go out, they get drunk, party, they get high – they may do it for no reason at all.”
Wearing revealing clothing also does not mean a person is “inviting or willing to have sex”, she said.
Ms Henson added: “The lived experience of a sexual assault may well not be remembered in a neat, consistent, forensic parcel so you will want to bear that in mind.
“It is well established through the courts that a traumatic event can affect memory and the ability to particularise details and the order of events.”
Jurors were also told that pixelated footage of the incident will be played to them.
The Lewes Crown Court trial sitting in Hove is estimated to last four weeks and is due to open on Tuesday.
The trial is expected to last into April after a break for Easter.
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