We just met to talk, says rape case tennis tutor

the tennis coach accused of raping a 15-year-old former pupil described her as "a real sweetheart", the Old Bailey heard today.

Richard Lewis admitted taking the girl for a meal at the Grosvenor casino in Edgware but insisted to detectives it was she who had wanted to go back to his home.

Lewis, a full-time coach licensed by the Lawn Tennis Association, denied he " fancied" the schoolgirl or had any sexual contact with her.

The girl, who is now 17, claimed that Lewis spiked her drinks, then lured her back to his house where he raped her in August 2002.

She withdrew her claims to the police four days after the alleged attack, saying the officers were insensitive. But the case was reopened and Lewis, 26, was arrested in June last year.

The court heard that a year after the girl had given up tennis, Lewis heard that she had family problems and had left home and - encouraged by her brother - he decided to talk to her about them.

Lewis told police officers: "She was a real sweetheart. I thought she was very close to her mum and I didn't know where it had all gone wrong."

He denied buying her drinks, as she alleges, at the restaurant but said she had gone to the bar. He said she asked to go back to his home to talk in private. But he says once there they had a row and he called her a cab and gave her £20.

Lewis, of Edgware, has pleaded not guilty to rape.

The case continues.