The son of a former world champion boxer denied "dragging a teenage girl across a beach to rape her" before sending an "intimidating" message asking for "round two", a court has heard. Joseph Eubank, 27, said he could not smell alcohol on the 16-year-old who has told a jury she was too drunk to stand. Giving evidence in the witness box at Lewes Crown Court today, the youngest son of former champ Chris Eubank Snr denied two counts of rape.
He told the jury he thought police would have worked out he was innocent long before getting to trial. "Moving forward, I'm going to have to be a lot more sensible," Eubank said. He told the court he had not been drinking on the night he spotted the teenager after leaving a seafront casino.
She was saying goodbye to friends and did not appear drunk, he said. Earlier the court heard the young woman had been celebrating a friend's 16th birthday drinking neat vodka on Brighton beach in July 2022. Eubank, of Hill Drive, Hove, said he approached the teenager who he assumed was university student age.
After a brief conversation, Eubank said they started walking towards the beach. Asked if anything was discussed about what they might do on the beach, he said: "No, it wasn't. "However, the body language we were expressing to each other was very clear.
There was smirks and smiles.” Eubank said he helped the teenager up when she stumbled on the stones and gave her his arm to steady herself. He stopped when they reached a secluded place on the beach .