Man accused of raping woman tells jury he couldn't keep his hands off her

A man accused of repeatedly raping a woman has said he could not keep his hands off her.

James Cunliffe denies regularly forcing himself on the woman, repeatedly raping another woman and abusing children over a 12-year-period.

He is on trial accused of 14 charges - including four of repeated rape - and gave evidence in his own defence today, January 27, 2026.

The alleged offences are said to have been committed in Lockerbie and Dumfries between 2010 and 2022.

Advocate depute David McDonald asked the 37-year-old if he was "besotted" and "smitten" with one of the women he is accused of repeatedly raping.

He told the jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock: "Totally. I was completely and wholly in love with her."

And when asked if by the prosecutor if he could leave her alone, he said: "No."

He also admitted that he messaged the woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, asking for sex "a lot".

But he denied raping her, claiming the sexual interactions between them were consensual.

Mr McDonald asked the jury to convict him of the offences he faces and said: "He just wouldn't and couldn't leave her alone - he admits that himself."

He added: "He was violent towards children, he abused these women and he raped them."

The prosecutor also drew the jury's attention to what he called Cunliffe's "relentless pursuit" of the woman and his "determination to have sex with her".

And he compared what she had said about her experiences with Cunliffe with what the other alleged rape victim claims happened to her, describing their accounts as "compellingly similar circumstances".

He aded: "His dogged pursuit. His persistence. He didn't take 'no' for an answer. He didn't stop."

Cunliffe is also accused of regularly assaulting a boy for 13 years, performing a sex act in the presence of a woman and making intimate images of an underage girl.

He also denies assaulting the same youngster, performing a sex act in front of her, assaulting a third child, and assaulting another woman.

He is alleged to have targeted the boy between July 2010 and November 2020 at an address in Lockerbie and four different addresses in Dumfries, when the youngster was aged between two and 13.

Prosecutors claim Cunliffe, of Dumfries, repeatedly grabbed the boy, pushed and pulled him, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against a wall.

He is also accused of repeatedly raping the first woman in her sleep between 2013 and 2017, and repeatedly raping her between 2017 and 2020, and he is also accused of regularly sexually assaulting her between the same dates.

Prosecutors also claim that he intentionally exposed himself to the woman and performed a sex act on himself in front of her without her consent.

And he is accused of taking images of the underage girl, who also can't be named for legal reasons, "in a state of undress".

He also allegedly assaulted her to her injury, recorded her in a state of undress and exposed himself to her.

He is also accused of assaulting another girl when she was aged between seven and nine.

The indictment states he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted the woman he says he was "besotted" with between 2020 and 2022.

And the final charge he faces is one of assaulting another woman, by pushing her and trying to punch her on the head in 2021.

Cunliffe maintains his innocence and the trial, before Judge Andrew Cubie, continues.