Gay Radio 4 presenter 'drugged and raped man after New Year's Eve party'

Nigel Wrench snorted cocaine with the man at the party in south London and offered him the chance to sit in on his show, the Old Bailey was told.

Back at the PM presenter's flat he poured them both a glass of champagne but when the 26-year-old man took a gulp he realised "not all was well", a jury heard.

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There were "flashes of darkness" and "periods of blackness" as the man, now a successful PA, went in and out of consciousness, the court was told.

The next thing he knew he was naked on Wrench's bed, and the presenter was putting a pill into his mouth, it is alleged.

Constance Briscoe, prosecuting, said: "In order to get his way with the victim, he drugged him and he raped him and he sexually assaulted him."

Wrench is accused of rape, sexual assault, and administering Temazepam with the intention of "stupefying or overpowering" his alleged victim to have sex, on January 1 last year.

The 47-year-old, of Burgoyne Road, Finsbury Park, north London, a presenter on Radio 4's PM programme, denies all the charges.

The alleged victim had earlier in the evening met up with an ex-partner and the two men had a meal together.

Later he went on to the party in Kennington, south London, where he was introduced to Wrench and talked about his radio career.

During the conversation, the presenter offered the man cocaine and they snorted it together in the toilet, the court heard.

Later Wrench made a pass at the man but he rebuffed his advances.

Just before the party ended, some time after 4am, the presenter asked him if he wanted to go back and look at his art collection, jurors were told.

The man was "a bit suspicious", Miss Briscoe said, but Wrench told him: "Don't worry, it's not for sex."

They took a taxi back to Wrench's flat where the presenter showed him some of the paintings on the wall then offered him a drink.

"He went into another room and returned with two glasses of what (the alleged victim) believed was champagne," said Miss Briscoe.

"He took a gulp of champagne and he knew that not all was well. The champagne being drunk, he rushed to the toilet to wash his mouth out.

"His eyes started to turn in his head and he began to get flashes of darkness and that fluctuated with periods of blackness and flashes of lucidity. He would say that he was in and out of consciousness.

"His next recollection was that he was somehow on the defendant's bed. His clothes had been removed.

"He remembers the defendant putting a pill in his mouth. He remembers waking up and he had a very bad headache."

It was then around 1pm on New Year's Day, seven hours after he had arrived at the flat, the man had since recalled.

"He remembers that when he was on the bed the defendant was wrestling with him and he was trying to kiss him at the same time.

"As he was trying to kiss him he was hitting and punching, slapping and biting him," Miss Briscoe said.

Wrench sexually assaulted the man despite being told by him to stop, she said. Then the presenter forced the man to perform a sex act on him, she added.

"The more (the victim) resisted him the more he punched and hit him."

After the man left he met a friend and they went together to a police station to report what had happened.

A doctor who assessed the alleged victim found 12 separate injuries including swellings, scratches and bruises.

Police arrested Wrench on January 2 and he made no answer to questions asked by detectives. Medication including Temazepam was found at his home.

The drug, whose effects include "dizziness, sedation, drowsiness, disorientation and reduced alertness", was also detected in a blood sample from the alleged victim, Miss Briscoe said.

Wrench's alleged victim gave evidence from behind a screen today as the presenter, wearing a grey suit and striped tie, sat in the dock.

The man, now 27, described how he had first briefly met Wrench at a bar in Vauxhall where he had expressed his interest in doing work experience at Radio 4.

They talked about it again when they met up at the party, he said.

"What he said was that I could sit in on a show of his and that way he could help me," said the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

After chatting for about two hours, Wrench offered him cocaine and chopped out two lines on the toilet lid.

The man asked if both lines were for him and was surprised and upset at the response, he told the court.

"He said 'I'm not your sugardaddy'," he told the court.

The trial was adjourned to tomorrow.