A mobile phone found at a crime scene led police to a man accused of raping an 18-year-old German student, a court heard today.

Detectives arrested Michael Phillips, 25, at his Brighton home after finding the mobile telephone at the scene of the brutal rape, in which the girl was told she would be killed if she screamed.

The BT Cellnet mobile was registered to Phillips' mother at the house she shared with him at Plymouth Avenue, Bevendean.

Phillips denies two charges of rape, one of indecent assault and one of robbery.

Today Lewes Crown Court heard from John Price, prosecuting, how the student was attacked at around midnight as she walked back to her English host family in Brighton following a night out with friends on July 16 last year.

She was grabbed from behind on an area of open grassland she had used as a short cut.

Her attacker threw her to the ground and searched her handbag.

He then raped her and led her to a nearby playground, where he forced her to perform a sex act on him.

He raped her again before finally letting her go.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ran to the house where she was staying - just a minute's walk away - and raised the alarm.

The father of the family then went to the scene of the rape and saw a man searching the area with a torch. He disappeared along an alleyway, the court heard.

The following day detectives conducting a fingertip search of the area discovered the mobile phone.

An expert later examined its SIM card, which held information about the registered user.

It revealed the user was Gwen Pollard, the defendant's mother, and phone numbers stored in its memory included the number of the family home. Phillips was arrested that night.

Mr Price told how the student was attacked by the rapist after getting off a bus from the city centre.

He said: "She was attacked from behind. Over the next 30 minutes, she was subjected by him to an horrific ordeal.

"He grabbed her, clamping his hand around her mouth. He threw her to the floor and held her down. She was told that if she screamed he would kill her. He said he had a gun."

He said the man told the girl he knew where she lived, pointing towards the house where she was staying while studying English.

The court heard how among several numbers stored on the telephone was one listed as "Mum". It showed the number of the defendant's home.

The case continues.