JURORS have been sent out to consider their verdicts in the case of a council team leader accused of sexual assault.

Peter Brown is on trial at Oxford Crown Court after denying the sex attack on the woman in her home in September 2011.

The 56-year-old, from Drayton near Banbury, says he was trying to comfort the woman and touched her leg in a supportive gesture.

The jury was sent out yesterday afternoon and will retire again to consider their verdict today.

The victim had told the jury Brown had been getting too close and acting inappropriately in the months before he groped her in her bedroom.

Defence lawyer Anthony McGeorge said in his final submission to the court: “This allegation is now three years old. Is there some credible explanation for that? You may think the hallmark of a genuine complaint is a prompt follow-up of it.”

He also questioned the reliability of the alleged victim, saying of the defendant: “He is a good person. He is spoken of very highly by people who know him well and have done for many years. Is such a person going to expose themselves to the risk of getting themselves in this situation for no particular reason?

The trial continues.

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