A LAW student said he was defending himself when he punched a woman several times in a nightclub, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Abdulrahman Abdelsalam is accused of sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at the Plush Lounge on March 22 last year.

Abdelsalam, of Watling Avenue, Edgware, Middlesex, denies groping the woman. The 20-year-old said he had joined students celebrating completing their exams at Chutneys Indian Brasserie before later heading to the Park End Street nightclub at about midnight.

The second year Oxford University student said he was walking through the club towards his group of friends when he was “violently pushed from the side”.

He added: “I turned around and saw the woman facing me. She looked really angry, she looked drunk and she was slurring her speech.”

Abdelsalam told the court the alleged victim punched him in his left eye, leaving him with a cut underneath, after they both swore at each other.

He said he hit the woman in the face after putting his hands out to defend himself and she then poured a drink over his head.

The defendant told the court the woman then struck his head and neck with a bottle, causing him to punch her three times in self defence.

Abdelsalam told the jury it was “unfortunate” he fractured the woman’s nose during the attack and said he “felt bad” about the incident.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Jonathan Stone suggested Abdelsalam was drunk when the alleged sexual and physical assaults took place. He added: “She poured a drink over your head because of what you did to her. It was part of getting you to back off.”

Abdelsalam said: “That’s not true. It’s unacceptable to touch a woman in that way but I did not touch her.”

The trial continues.