A trial took a dramatic turn yesterday when a man changed his plea to admit raping his dying girlfriend.

A jury had heard that Jason Halliley, 30, carried out the drunken sex attack on Rachel Mooney, 27, when she was in a coma after taking a drugs overdose.

At the start of the trial at Leeds Crown Court, Halliley had pleaded not guilty to two offences of rape. But after a two-and-a-half hour adjournment on the fourth day yesterday, the counts were put to him again.

He tearfully pleaded guilty to both.

Halliley's barrister Simon Lawlor QC explained the changed pleas to the jury.

"The act was committed in an honest but drunken belief which amounted to recklessness," he said.

"Had he been sober, he would have realised the intercourse was not consensual and he would not have behaved as he did."

Judge Norman Jones QC asked jury members to find Halliley guilty on the two counts of rape but he ordered them to find him not guilty of a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent which was now not being pursued by the Crown.

"Drink is not a defence in law," he told the jury, "He (Halliley) accepts because of her position she (Miss Mooney) was not in a position to give consent and therefore whatever took place took place without her consent. He accepts that had he not been drunk, he would have realised and would not have proceeded as he did."

He renewed Halliley's unconditional bail and adjourned sentencing for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. Halliley is likely to be sentenced in May.

The rapes took place at the flat Halliley shared with Miss Mooney in Chadwick Fold Lane, Mirfield, in September 1999.

The court had heard how Miss Mooney had spent the night drinking heavily and swallowing tablets which left her comatose. Halliley had tried to revive her by pouring buckets of water over her and when she failed to come round, he placed the bucket over her head and took photos of her.