A MOTHER-OF-TWO has told a court of her "sheer terror" as she was allegedly raped in the toilet of a train travelling between Ipswich and Colchester.The 22-year-old woman of two broke down in tears as she described how she was shoved into the toilet after being surrounded by three men who "caged" her in.

By JANE HUNT

at Ipswich Crown Court

A MOTHER-OF-TWO has told a court of her "sheer terror" as she was allegedly raped in the toilet of a train travelling between Ipswich and Colchester.

The 22-year-old woman broke down in tears as she described how she was pushed into the toilet after being surrounded by three men who "caged" her in.

One of the men told her he was going to have sex with her and ignored her protests, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The woman said she was "in sheer terror" but decided not to fight the man. "I had two children at home. I wasn't going to fight with him. I didn't want to go home beaten or stabbed," she told the court.

The woman had her face against the wall during the alleged rape and could hear the other two men banging on the door telling their friend to hurry up.

At one stage the toilet door had been opened and one of the other men had tried to get in. She could see him starting to loosen his clothing. "They were laughing and speaking in a foreign language to each other," she said.

Before the court is Abdul Hassan, 23, of Manor Park, London who has denied raping the woman in March last year.

Yesterday Mark Wyeth, prosecuting, told the court that the woman had spent the day in Ipswich and had gone to the train station at about 9.30pm to catch a train to Chelmsford.

While she was waiting for a train she had been approached by Hassan who asked her for the time.

The woman had boarded the train and sat in a smoking carriage.

After the train had started moving Hassan and his two friends had allegedly come into the carriage and sat around her.

The woman, who was alone in the carriage with the men, felt uncomfortable and got up to move. As she did so the men had crowded around her caging her in.

She had ended up in the toilet where Hassan had allegedly raped her.

When the train had started to slow down as it neared Colchester the men had disappeared.

The woman left the train at Colchester and told a relative what had happened to her the following day.

Mr Wyeth said Hassan claimed that the woman had agreed to have sex with him.

The trial continues.