A FORMER Oxfordshire university student on trial for attempted rape told the jury: “I knew what I was getting accused of, I was terrified.”

Lee Lewis, 26, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with attempted rape, assault by penetration, and sexual assault.

He was arrested at the annual This is Oxford Festival, which takes place at the playing fields of Oxford Brookes University’s Wheatley Campus, on May 18, 2019.

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Lewis is accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student late in the evening only hours after putting his details into her Snapchat.

However, Lewis, of an address in Ipswich, told the jury on Thursday (May 2) that he was just trying to help the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after someone else had attacked her.

The quantity surveyor said: “I was leaving and I heard a commotion. I walked over there and was aware there was a girl screaming, she was crawling away…she was being attacked and I believe I had interrupted whatever was taking place there.

“I ran over to try to help her and she was in distress, she was screaming and I think she still thought that whoever was attacking her was me when I arrived.

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“I was trying to explain that she was okay but she was hysterical, crying and screaming.”

It was heard that security guards were then called over and Lewis tried to flee from them.

“I knew what I was getting accused of,” he said. “I was terrified. I think I might have been in a panic and ran away from them based on things that were being said but I was terrified.

Oxford Mail: A stock image of a festival A stock image of a festival (Image: NQ)

“I can’t imagine I got far from them in the state I was in.”

During the start of his evidence, Lewis told the jury he was a ‘drunken mess’ and had been drinking since lunchtime.

When asked if he remembered meeting the girl and putting his details in her phone, Lewis said: “I don’t have any exact knowledge of this conversation or meeting her at all.

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“I don’t remember the full contact of what took place but some girl with dark hair kissed me and I backed away because I was with my girlfriend at the time.

“When I’m drunk I’m very friendly and a chatty person so it’s possible I had a conversation with her…you would meet someone and end up with their Snapchat and 99 per cent of the time you would never speak to them or know them… I can’t even recall what she looks like.”

The trial continues.