The man accused of a brutal sex assault last October claims his only interaction with the victim was to try and help her.

And, although a hat found at the scene of the crime contained DNA evidence linking him to the assault, the man said he has many ball caps which are stashed at various Island locations.

The 35-year-old Warwick man, entered the witness box yesterday to offer evidence in his defence.

He told the court that at the time of the assault he had recently been evicted from a Paget residence.

As a result, he was sleeping rough - behind PHC club, in a tourist train in Paget and, occasionally, in a Paget house when the residents were out at night.

And, he said he had clothing stashed at these locations including ball caps.

Monday, the court heard from two forensic scientists that DNA from hairs found on a cap collected by Police at the scene of the crime, matched DNA on the butts of cigarettes the defendant had smoked in the presence of two officers after his arrest.

The man is charged with serious sexual assault on a 29-year-old accountant on October 14 of last year.

Last week, the woman told the seven-woman, five-man Supreme Court jury that she was violently sexually assaulted after being thrown out of a taxi for eating at around 3 a.m.

Left stranded on Middle Road in Warwick miles from home, she said she eventually accepted a ride on a bike. She claims the defendant was the driver of the cycle and the same man who had approached the taxi while she argued with the driver.

The woman said she jumped off the bike when the defendant would not follow her directions. Minutes later, she was grabbed from behind, taken to a dark secluded spot and sexually assaulted.

The defendant admitted in court yesterday that he is the same man who approached the taxi but said he had only intervened to help her.

The defendant said he saw the taxi in a bus stop and noticed there was an argument in progress.

"I went to see what was the problem," he said. "By this time the driver had opened the door and was pulling the lady out telling her to get the f*** out of his car and that she's not supposed to eat in it."

The defendant told the court he got the woman's change from the driver, who then turned the taxi around and motioned to him.

"He asked me if I saw what had happened," he said. "I told him that was uncalled for. By that time the lady was walking up the road."

The defendant said he then saw another man approach on a bike, first passing the woman but then doubling back.

She accepted a package from the man, so he assumed she was alright, got back on his bike and began to drive toward home via Ord Road. But his bike got a flat tire and he had to push the bike to Paget.

The jury heard earlier that Police officers had spoken to the man - prior to his interaction with the taxi - in the parking lot of PHC and he had been wearing a ball cap.

But the man claims he took the cap off because he became hot and sweaty as he pushed the bike home and put it in the front compartment of the bike.

Yesterday, prior to the defendant's testimony, defence attorney Liz Christopher probed Sgt. Terry Maxwell, who is the officer in charge of the cycle crime unit, about a flat tire on the bike.

Sgt. Maxwell said he didn't recall the tire being flat when he picked the bike last October.

He said the bike had lost air, as most vehicles do, in the months since it was impounded.

He said he had found a dark blue or faded black baseball cap in the front container as well as a screw driver, some pills, an aluminium cigar container and some matches.

The trial continues today before Acting Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons. It is being prosecuted by Vinette Graham-Allen, who is assisted by Graveney Bannister.