'Something was wrong', suspect tells French rape trial

A man among dozens accused of raping a Frenchwoman while she was unconscious at her husband's instigation has accepted the charges, saying he did not think it was abuse but then noticed "something was wrong".

The defendant, a 44-year-old supermarket employee and father of three, is among 50 men accused of participating in the mass rape over a decade of Gisele Pelicot, in a trial that has shocked France.

The woman's then-husband Dominique Pelicot has admitted to drugging her into unconsciousness and inviting strangers to rape her.

The man, identified only as Lionel R, admitted in court that he had raped Ms Pelicot on 2 December 2018, however he said that had not been his intention.

"Since I never obtained Ms Pelicot's consent, I have no choice but to accept the facts," he told the court.

Lionel R told the court that he had made contact on a libertine website with Dominique Pelicot, who suggested he have sex with his wife.

He described Mr Pellicot's proposal as "something a little out of the ordinary".

Lionel R, who was active in the swinger scene at the time, said Mr Pelicot's explanations were "not very clear", but he believed he was participating in a game.

"There was talk of medical drugs. Sometimes of her taking them and sometimes of him administering them to her," he said.

"I didn't ask myself too many questions," he added.

"I followed his directions, he became very pushy," Lionel R said of Mr Pelicot.

"I'm not looking for excuses. I lost my bearings," he added.

At one point Ms Pelicot began to move.

"He told me to leave the room and that's when I realised that something was wrong," he said.

Lionel R, who spent 12 months in detention during the pre-trial investigation and is now divorced, said of Ms Pelicot that he "cannot imagine the nightmare she went through and is still going through".

His own life, he said, had "also been destroyed".

Ms Pelicot, who obtained a divorce in August, has become a feminist icon since demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

The trial has horrified France, also because Mr Pelicot's 50 co-defendants include men such as a firefighter, a nurse and a journalist, many of them with families.

Of those, 17 are in custody, as is Mr Pelicot himself, but 32 other defendants are attending as free men.

One co-defendant, still at large, is being tried in absentia.