A HELENSBURGH man is on trial accused of raping three women and intent to rape a fourth.

Ben Slee, 30, of Maitland Court, denies all 52 charges against him for alleged physical and sexual assaults – which are alleged to have been committed between 2002 and 2015.

At the High Court in Glasgow a 31-year-old woman told the jury that Slee raped her on a number of occasions.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons,was asked by prosecutor Kath Harper: “Did you want to have sex with him,” and replied: “No, I was shouting at him, trying to hit him.”

The woman, who was in a relationship with Slee for a couple of years, told the jury of an occasion in 2005 when she thought she was pregnant and he came to see her.

She said: “I'd been on a date with a guy and Ben was saying 'I know where this guy lives'.

Miss Harper asked: “What did Ben do,” and the woman replied: “He punched me on the stomach and called me a slag.”

The woman claimed in evidence that Slee had hit her on a number of occasions and once had pushed her head under the water while she was having a bath.

She told the jurors: “We were arguing. He came in the bathroom and put my head under the water. I was really scared. I couldn't breathe. He was laughing. He said: 'That was brilliant. You should have seen your face under that water. I could have killed you.' I was petrified of him.”

Under cross-examination by defence QC Ian Duguid, the woman was asked why she had never told any of her family or friends about the alleged abuse or gone to her GP and she replied: “Because it's embarrassing.”

Mr Duguid asked the woman why she had allowed Slee to breach a 2005 interdict ordering him to stay away from her and added: “You never told the solicitor that prepared the interdict that Mr Slee had previously raped you,” and she said: “I wasn't there to report that incident.”

The QC went on: “There was an opportunity to reveal him as a rapist, but you didn't take that opportunity,: and the woman replied: “It wasn't about that.”

Mr Duguid said: “Ben Slee says he never had any sexual activity without your consent,” and the woman replied: “He's lying.”

Slee denies all the charges against him.

The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.