A MAN accused of rape said the 15-year-old girl could have ‘screamed or shouted’ for help during the busy summer day on Bournemouth beach.

Gabriel Marinoaica told Bournemouth Crown Court the alleged victim referred to him as her boyfriend and kissed him first.

The 20-year-old denies the charges of rape and four counts of sexual assault on the 15-year-old girl in the sea on Bournemouth beach, on July 18, 2021.

The girl, who cannot swim and was at the beach with two friends, said the defendant pulled her deep into the sea before assaulting her.

Marinoaica, of Darlaston, Walsall, West Midlands, told the court he was in Bournemouth to have a nice day at the beach with his friend and family.

He said a ball belonging to the alleged victim and her friends rolled towards them and the girls invited him and his friend to play.

The defendant added a group of males approached the girls, and they said ‘leave us alone we are with them’, pointing to Marinoaica and his friend.

They allegedly referred to them as their ‘boyfriends’ before one of the girls kissed the defendant and the other kissed his friend.

However, the alleged victim’s friend told the court she could not remember calling the males their boyfriends and denies kissing anyone.

READ MORE: Girl left crying on Bournemouth beach after alleged rape in the sea

The defendant said he told the girl his name was 'Gabi' and that she did not tell him her age. 

Marinoaica said he and the girl started kissing and touching each other before she touched his private parts.

The girl reported he bit her neck but the defendant said she did so too, and that his family noticed the mark on his neck later in the day.

Marinoaica said in a police interview: “She asked if I wanted to put it in and I said okay.”

The defendant told the court no words were exchanged during the sex but that if she did not like it she could have started screaming or shouting.

He added he was slightly taller than the girl but they could both stand in the water.

When the pair left the water, the defendant said she was ‘smiling and happy’.

The court previously heard the girl said Marinoaica asked if she wanted to ‘smash’, which she said she was uncomfortable with.

In his police interview 11 months after the incident, the defendant said he has never used the word ‘smash’ in a sexual context before.

However, prosecutor, Ellie Fargin, said police officers found three conversations on Marinoaica’s phone of him using the word prior to the incident on the beach.

The trial continues.