A STUDENT from the University of Worcester has been accused of a sexual assault on a woman who told him 'no' and tried to push him away, a court heard.

Rhys John was a physiotherapy student at the time the alleged attack in Worcester which was said to involve touching the complaint's neck, breasts and buttocks.

He denies the charge which states that the touching was sexual, that the complainant did not consent and that John did not reasonably believe she consented.

John's trial got underway at Worcester Crown Court today (Wednesday) with the case formally opened by the prosecution.

The 20-year-old denies the offence, alleged to have taken place on December 16, 2019. The complainant, who cannot be identified, is scheduled to give evidence tomorrow.

Michael Aspinall, prosecuting, laid out the background to the case to the jury, saying how the complainant had previously noticed that John would dance close to her, touch her on the bottom and tried to hold her hand and that she would remind him that he had a girlfriend.

"She didn't want this touching to happen," he said.

Mr Aspinall said things came to a head on December 16, 2019 when the complainant had been socialising with others at a flat and she had 'too much to drink', was 'drunk and intoxicated' and went to a bedroom to be sick into a sink.

The prosecutor described him rubbing against her as she was sick and pulling her hair back.

"She asked him what he was doing. She reminded him he had a girlfriend. To that he replied 'it's complicated'," said Mr Aspinall.

He described how she even tied her hair up in a ponytail so he would not need to grab it but that he took hold of it, 'turned her face to his and roughly, very roughly, kissed her on the lips'.

"She tried to push him away. As he had hold of her ponytail she couldn't get away from him" said Mr Aspinall.

At one stage he told her it was 'time to go to bed' but that she had not realised this meant to 'put her to bed' and that John took her top off and unhooked her bra, said Mr Aspinall.

The complainant said the defendant took her trousers off and lay on top of her, kissing her neck and she told him 'no', the prosecutor said.

Mr Aspinall told the jury: "Again she tried to push him off her. She just didn't have the strength."

At one stage the complainant described passing out. The prosecution case is that John also locked the door during the alleged attack.

The matter was reported to police on February 9 last year.

In his interview John said the complainant was trying to make herself sick by sticking her fingers in her mouth.

He denied pushing her on the bed, saying she had 'flopped on the bed' and that 'she had asked him to put her to bed'.

He told officers he had given her a glass of water when she asked for one.

John of Needham Drive, Crewe, said she put her arms on his shoulders and pulled him down onto the bed and pulled the duvet over both of them.

"What he was saying was that everything was done with her consent, her permission and, indeed, at her request" said Mr Aspinall.

The trial continues.