A man accused of raping his partner multiple times has told a court the pair took part in consensual, rough sex requiring a "safe word".
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"She likes when I smack her or choke her, whip her," the 20-year-old accused said while giving evidence in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The man has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges, including multiple counts of sexual intercourse without consent, choking, suffocating or strangling, and assault.
The alleged victim, who is also 20 years old, previously told the court the accused physically and sexually assaulted her on five separate days between January and March 2022.
The woman said she could "feel my skin burning" due to the allegedly violent and non-consensual whipping from a horse riding crop, an incident during which she also claims to have been forcibly tied to a bed.
She is also said to have lost consciousness due to choking while she was allegedly being raped on a separate occasion.
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On Tuesday, the accused told the court his then-partner enjoyed being choked or having her hair pulled during sex and that she was often the one to suggest doing so.
He also said he consensually whipped her with her horse riding crop, "the sort of thing a jockey would use at the Melbourne Cup".
"Hers," he replied when asked whose idea it was to use the crop.
The court has heard the woman physically and verbally struggled against the accused in every alleged physical and sexual assault that took place in early 2022.
The man told the court the pair's safe word of "pineapples" was their established cue to stop sex because "[the alleged victim]'s always saying stop ... then she says don't stop".
He said they otherwise did not take safety precautions.
The accused man also provided a version of events concerning an incident on January 30, 2022, during which the alleged victim said she ran "for my life" from their Greenway apartment in nothing but a T-shirt after being allegedly choked, suffocated and hit.
He told the court the alleged victim "started screaming out for help" on the day in question but not due to anything he had done.
The accused said he placed his hand over her mouth to stop her.
"I didn't want someone to think maybe there was an assault taking place," the man said.
Defence barrister Travis Jackson asked his client if he had touched the alleged victim in any other way that day.
"No," he replied.
The man is set to return to the witness stand on Wednesday, when his jury trial continues.
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Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
