A former DUP councillor has been charged with the rape and the attempted rape of a young woman.

William Wilkinson of Tully Road, Portglenone, appeared at a special sitting of Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday.

Wilkinson (31), who works for victims’ group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), is accused of committing the offences in the Co Antrim area last Thursday.

He confirmed in court that he understood the nature of the charges.

A PSNI officer she said believed she could connect him to the charges and asked for him to be remanded in custody.

The officer said police received a 999 call from a female during which the words “Get off me, get off me” could be heard and when they went to a house a woman said the accused had raped her.

The police officer said the woman was in a “very distressed state”.

In response to questions from a defence solicitor, the police officer confirmed Mr Wilkinson was interviewed six times since being arrested in the early hours of Thursday.

He denied the offences to police.

The defence solicitor told the court that in the light of “two different sides to the story” it would take time to resolve the issues, adding: “This entire episode has been extremely stressful.”

Remanding the councillor in custody, District Judge Alcorn said fears from the prosecution that the accused might attempt to get the injured party to withdraw her statement were valid.

Wilkinson was remanded in custody to appear at Coleraine Magistrates Court, via videolink, on September 15.

He left the DUP to join the Ulster Unionist Coalition Party (UUCP) after First Minister Ian Paisley’s decision to share power with Sinn Fein. Although Wilkinson failed to gain election to the Braid ward on Ballymena Borough Council at the last local government election, he joined the council in 2006 after winning a by-election.

An academic by profession, he was also tipped as a “rising star” in anti-power-sharing unionism and was present when FAIR’s Willie Frazer was arrested after gate-crashing talks between the governments and local parties at Leeds Castle.

Mr Frazer last night expressed his shock at the charges.

He said: “He has been working with me for about six years and this arrest has hit me like a sledgehammer.

“He is obviously innocent until proven guilty and we will be taking an interest in the case.

“I won’t be able to comment further until the case has been concluded.”

The ex-DUP member on Ballymena Council joined the UUCP, which was established by former Newtownabbey councillor Frazer Agnew in the 1990s, after the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.

But he was expected to switch his allegiance to former senior DUP member Jim Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party at next month’s council meeting.

A senior UUCP source said the party was “flabbergasted” by Wilkinson’s court appearance.

Said the source: “It’s hard to believe that a councillor has been charged with such a serious offence and we will have to wait and see what happens.”

sbreen@belfasttelegraph.co.uk