Two teenage girls ‘colluded’ to accuse a Dr Strange actress and her Taekwondo ‘master’ husband of sexually abusing them, a court heard today. 

Zara Phythian, 36, who starred in the hit 2016 Marvel superhero film with Benedict Cumberbatch, has denied allegations she and her husband, Victor, sexually assaulted one of the girls for three years, starting when she was 13.    

Prosecutors claim the couple regularly involved the teenager in ‘threesomes’ – with Victor, 59, sometimes filming the incidents in a ‘bid to recreate pornographic scenes’.

Jurors at Nottingham Crown Court have been told the alleged abuse began in 2005 after the Markes plied the girl with Captain Morgan dark rum, before Zara ‘dared’ her to perform a sex act on Victor.

Hollywood actress Zara Phythian, 36, (with spouse Victor Marke arriving at court on May 3), are jointly charged with 14 counts of sexual activity with a child

The Markes arriving at Nottingham Crown Court last week, where they walked in under a large umbrella (right) 

The abuse is said to have progressed to full sexual intercourse, taking place ‘once or twice a month’ until 2008. The Markes are jointly charged with 14 counts of sexual activity with a child, which they deny. 

Victor, of Ravenshead, Notts, is also accused of indecently assaulting another teenage girl, between 2002 and 2003, which he denies.

This morning, Victor’s barrister suggested the two victims may have ‘colluded’ in making the allegations, and said he should be acquitted on all charges.

The court has heard the second alleged victim made her complaint to the police after officers contacted her while investigating the first girl’s claims.

In his closing speech to jurors, Francis McGrath said: ‘The two complainants in this case are not independent of each other. This is not a case where two people have gone to police independently and a link has been established.

‘You cannot eliminate the possibility there has been some form of collusion that has not been identified by the police. Mr Marke does not need to satisfy you that it has not occurred. It is a possibility that we cannot safely eliminate.’

Zara starred in Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch, left. She is now on trial for child sex offences with her husband Victor

Jurors heard the alleged abuse began after the couple plied the girl with Captain Morgan dark rum, before Zara (pictured) ‘dared’ her to perform a sex act on Victor

Victor Marke, 59, is accused of grooming the youngster from the age of 13 alongside his actress wife Zara Phythian, 37 (they are seen arriving at Nottingham Crown Court) 

Mr McGrath added that an email showed the first victim had ‘given’ the second girl’s name to detectives.

However, in their evidence, both girls denied they had conspired together.

The second girl said she ‘would never have come forward’ if police hadn’t approached her, and planned to ‘die with my shame’ – but had recently become a mum, and felt she had ‘no option to speak my truth’ in a bid to stop anyone else being targeted in the same way she claimed to have been.

The court heard extracts from Zara’s police interview in which she described the claims as ‘bulls***’ 

In his closing speech, prosecutor Ahmad Hossain QC told jurors: ‘Is there any benefit to either of these women? What is the benefit of making up false allegations and putting themselves through this?

‘You may feel you are drawn to the inescapable conclusion that they are telling the truth.

‘When you look at them closely the conclusion you can come to is that you can be sure what they said happened really happened.’

Previously, Zara, of Mansfield, Notts, told the court how she was ‘spotted’ while taking part in a martial arts tournament in the US, after which she took part in Guinness World Record attempts on Sky TV, and did ‘lots of stunt work’.

She then began ‘working her way up the ladder’ – and in 2016 was successful in auditioning for the role of ‘Brunette Zealot’ in Doctor Strange, which grossed $677m at the box office.

Giving evidence in her own defence last week, Zara said: ‘It was a massive stepping stone. In early 2016 we did some pick-ups in New York and Los Angeles, and it (her role) was leaked to the media and there were photos of me and (actor) Mads Mikkelsen) on the streets.’

She added she was offered a position on tour with Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity – but had to turn down the dance group because she was defending a world record in India.

However, in March 2017 she was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes involving the girl alongside her husband.

Ms Phythian as Zealot in Doctor Strange with Mads Mikkelsen (left). She is also the star of a number of martial arts action movies including Tribal: Get out Alive with another due out this year

Zara, who told the court that her current business interests include running a martial arts academy as well as owning an entertainment and production firm, said she’d ‘never been in trouble with the police before’.

She was then cross-examined by Ahmad Hossein QC, who put it to her that the sexual activity had started when she suggested she and the girl play a game of ‘dare’.

Zara replied: ‘That is not true, by the way. That is ridiculous.’

She went on to claim the alleged victim had ‘not been in my house at 13 or 14’, and that she ‘would not let her drink full stop if she is not 18.

And when Mr Hossein listed a series of sex acts he suggested happened between Zara and the then-teenager, she replied: ‘It was not, and I think you know it was not.

‘That sexual activity that she described did not happen and is fabricated.’

Victor is also accused of indecently assaulting another teenage girl, between 2002 and 2003, which he denies 

In his opening speech to the jury at the start of the trial, Mr Hossain said: ‘Both of those defendants commanded admiration and respect within the martial arts world and the prosecution case is that Victor Marke groomed these two separate complainants when they were children and that he used his position of trust and authority to make them feel special so that he could satisfy his sexual urges.

‘And, it is the prosecution’s case, that Zara Marke was part of that process and Zara Marke acted, as is alleged, with Victor Marke.’

The trial continues.