A food delivery driver allegedly raped a woman after returning to her home near Belfast to collect a surplus order, the High Court has heard.
Silviu Iakob (28) is accused of forcing her into a bedroom to carry out the attack and then fleeing from the house.
The defendant, a Romanian national with an address at Glandore Drive in the city, claims the sexual encounter earlier this month was consensual.
Details emerged as Iakob was granted bail on a charge of raping the woman at the property in the Newtownabbey area on October 16.
Prosecutors said the alleged victim told police a driver for a popular online food delivery service initially brought an order for supermarket groceries to her home.
He returned a second time that evening after she contacted the firm about receiving extra items.
“She answered a knock on the door and asked him to wait two minutes,” a Crown lawyer said.
“However, as she reached the kitchen the male grabbed her from behind by the hair and forced her into a bedroom.”
The delivery driver tried to kiss the woman before he pulled down her pyjama bottoms and pushed her onto the bed while she was holding a mobile phone, it was alleged.
Prosecution counsel claimed he raped her despite repeated requests for him to stop.
“During this incident she messaged her sister to ask for help,” the barrister submitted.
“This act lasted for four or five minutes before the male… ran out of the house.”
Iakob was identified as the suspect based on a description of the car used for the food delivery.
The defendant subsequently attended a police station for voluntary questioning and provided intimate samples for the investigation.
“He gave an account that sexual intercourse with the complainant was consensual,” the prosecutor added.
Opposing bail, she argued Iakob could flee or interfere with an alleged victim because her address will be stored in his car’s sat nav system.
Conn O’Neill, defending, told the court his client has lived in Northern Ireland for seven years and fully cooperated with the investigation.
Granting bail to the accused, Mr Justice Scoffield cited both his clear record and the version of events he provided to police.
Iakob was ordered to lodge a £3,000 cash surety, abide by a curfew and banned from going near the alleged victim’s home.
The judge also directed: “He will be precluded from having a job as a delivery driver which might put him in a similar situation”.