A MAN who is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl he met on a bus was banned from approaching children four years ago, a jury was told yesterday.

Jonathan Swift, aged 25, of Canon Street, Newport, denies raping the teenager in an alley in the Malpas area of the city on Saturday, March 1, and breaching a sexual offences prevention order.

The jury of six men and six women was told by prosecutor Janet McDonald at Cardiff Crown Court that Swift was given a sexual prevention order in May 2010 after admitting a sexual assault on a 16-year-old girl. He was banned from approaching, speaking to, or being with any child who were not family members, for 10 years.

They also saw CCTV footage of Swift walking around Newport city centre from 7.10pm until 7.15pm, when he caught the 19E bus, on the day of the alleged attack.

Footage from the CCTV camera on the bus showed Swift sitting on the middle seat on its back row and talking to the girl, who was seated to his left, also on the back row, said the prosecutor.

At 7.20pm, Swift pressed the button to call the bus to a stop on Malpas Road. He walked off first and the girl followed, the court heard.

Later, footage showed him at the Malpas Road Tesco Express cashpoint at 7.46pm.

A woman who said she was the first person to see the girl after the attack told the court it was clear something was wrong because she was crying, distressed and agitated.

The girl told the woman she had been raped and was looking for her parents, but could not find them.

She said: “(The girl) looked a mess. Her hair was a mess, all her make up had run down her face.”

The court also heard from a statement by forensic medical examiner, Dr Louise Cook, that a 0.5cm bruise and scratches to her left thigh and lower back supported the assertion that the girl had been raped.

The jury can still find Swift guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16 if they acquit him of rape.

Proceeding.