Ex-Oz footballer raped woman while she was asleep

Sydney, Aug.10 (ANI): Former St Kilda footballer Andrew Lovett is reported to have raped a young woman while she was asleep, a court has heard.

While giving evidence this afternoon, a female friend, who cannot be named, said the alleged victim told her that "I was asleep and he thumped the s--- out of me".ccording to Fox News, a court heard the two young women had met a group of St Kilda footballers, including Lovett, Jason Gram and Nick Riewoldt, at the Royal Saxon hotel in Richmond around Christmas last year and had drinks before returning to Gram's Port Melbourne apartment.

The court heard the alleged victim was intoxicated on Gram's bed when the alleged rape occurred.he witness said she found her friend afterwards, sitting in a foetal position and asking to leave.

The witness said after running from the apartment the alleged victim was crying and told her in a cab: "I was asleep and he raped me ... I kept saying, 'no'".

During his evidence, Gram told the hearing that he pleaded for the alleged victim to tell him what had happened.

In his statement, Gram told police she replied: "He f***ed the s*** out of me, I feel like a slut. I thought it was you. It was the dark guy".

Gram said he later asked Lovett what had happened and Lovett said the sex had been consensual.

Gram said Lovett collapsed and cried when told the woman was accusing him of rape.

"He said he wouldn't do that," Gram told the hearing.

The case began this morning with a tense debate about whether a prosecution opening should be read out in court.

Five St Kilda players and a club official have been called to give evidence during the former player's committal hearing at Melbourne Magistrates' Court. Lovett, 27, faces two charges of rape. Both charges stem from an alleged sexual assault in Port Melbourne on Christmas Eve last year. (ANI)