A woman has told a court how her friend was "distressed, anxious and about to cry"  when she told her she had been raped by a man she met on a dating site.

Matthew Edgerton, 31, of De Grey Road, Colchester, denies raping a woman in March this year.

The court has heard that that consensual sex between the alleged victim and Edgerton became unconsensual after he became aggressive and started strangling the woman while she told him to stop.

Giving evidence on Friday, the witness told the court that it had begun as consensual but her friend then “felt she had to let him do it” because “she didn’t know what he was capable of”.

The alleged victim went to see her best friend the morning after the alleged incident, the court heard.

In her evidence, the friend told the court the woman was “distressed, anxious, and about to cry” and that the defendant "had raped her".

The woman then stayed at her friend’s house for the next five days.

The trial continues.