A WOMAN pushed a council team leader away by his throat after he sexually assaulted her in her home, jurors have heard.

Peter Brown, of Oxfordshire County Council’s roads and transport department, denies the 2011 assault.

Oxford Crown Court jurors heard yesterday that Brown, 56, offered to fix the unnamed woman’s ensuite shower.

But after making the repair he sat next to her on her bed accidentally setting off a sex toy that had been hidden beneath the bedcovers.

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A friend of the woman, who was not present at the time of the alleged assault, told jurors yesterday: “It turned on and I understand from (the complainant) that Peter suggested she could have the real thing.

“He pushed her down on to the bed. (She) said “no I don’t want this”.

The witness, also a neighbour of the alleged victim, said when her friend described the incident to her she was “tearful and distressed”.

Married Brown, of Drayton near Banbury, denies committing the sexual assault between September 1 and October 1, 2011.

The trial, which began on Wednesday, has heard that before the alleged assault there had been a number of incidents which led the complainant to think Brown was “creepy”.

Prosecutor Robert Spencer-Bernard said these included “inappropriate” behaviour such as touching her without permission and trying to hug and kiss her.

The barrister said: “She found his behaviour totally unacceptable and told him so.”

Opening the case on Wednesday, Mr Spencer-Bernard said despite this the defendant pushed the complainant onto the bed and rubbed his hands over her breasts and between her legs.

He said Brown was eventually questioned by police about and told them the encounter had been consensual.

He added: “(Brown) said as a Christian he often hugs people.”

But the barrister said the defendant changed his story several times.

The complainant gave evidence at court on both Wednesday and yesterday from behind a screen.

Telling the jury about Brown’s behaviour before the incident, she said: “He tried to hug me and kiss me and I tried to make light of it, I said ‘what are you doing, you’re married’.

Describing the assault she said: “He ended up pushing me down onto the bed and he had his hands on my back.

“Initially I didn’t do anything because I was frozen.

“I was saying ‘stop, I don’t want this, stop’. I made it very clear.”

She told the jury that she put her hands on his neck to push him off her.

Brown’s barrister Anthony McGeorge, cross-examining the witness, said: “Mr Brown does not accept your version of what happened.”

She replied: “But it did happen.”

The trial continues.


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