A 25-year-old Sandys woman broke down in tears as she testified in Supreme Court that she was sexually assaulted by a man who held a 12 inch knife to her neck.

But the woman then had to explain why she hugged the man after the incident.

The accused, a 31 year old Pembroke man, had stopped to give the woman a lift to Somerset where she lived at around midnight on April 16, the court heard.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges of serious sexual assault, deprivation of liberty and possessing an offensive weapon.

A nine woman, three man jury is hearing the case presided over by Justice Archie Warner. Representing the defendant is lawyer Larry Scott and Charmaine Smith appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The woman, who works for a local courier firm, told the court that she had missed the last bus home after spending an evening at a friend's house near Hamilton.

She managed to hitch a ride as far as the Heron Bay Marketplace and she started walking westward until the accused, who was travelling in the same direction on his bike, stopped and offered her a ride home.

When she approached him, she recognised him as the brother of an old schoolmate and agreed to accept the ride.

Once on the bike, the victim claimed the man started talking about his plans to kill someone and showed her a 12 inch knife with a jagged edge.

"I told him if you want to spend the rest of your life in jail, go ahead but leave me out of it," she said.

After making a brief stop at White Hill, they continued on but he unexpectedly turned off at high speed onto Wreck Road at which point she shouted at him to stop. He slowed down to navigate a sharp turn and she jumped off the bike.

The man then turned around shouting "You want to jump off my bike ?" and after getting off his bike put the knife at her neck, forcing her to walk backwards. She fell on top of an upturned boat and he proceeded to sexually assault her, she continued.

With the knife to her throat, she said, he ordered her to take her jacket off and lift up her shirt which she did. He then touched and sucked her breasts, asked her if her boyfriend's penis was as large as his and ordered her to drop her pants and then tried to enter her from behind.

She testified that she obeyed the man's orders to touch his penis and said she was partially penetrated but he suddenly stopped.

She claimed the defendant put the knife to the side of her face and told her to kiss him but she refused. He then tried to stick his tongue into her mouth and, with the knife now on her stomach, started licking her on the stomach, while she struggled to fix her clothes. At this point she pleaded with him to take her home, she said. They continued on toward Somerset but he made another stop at the Somerset Cricket Club to make a phone call while she held on to the bike.

She testified that she did not attempt to run away because he was looking at her while tapping the knife on the telephone booth.

The pair continued on and he stopped at the Heathcote Hill home of a woman he had been having a relationship with. Once the man was inside the house she ran across the road to her father's house and in tears asked him to take her home, she said.

The next afternoon she reported the incident to the Police who advised her to see a doctor.

Under questioning from Mr. Scott, the woman denied that the sex was consensual and said she only agreed to do the things he was asking because he had a knife to her throat.

And in a further attempt to establish that the sex was consensual, Mr. Scott suggested to the woman that he stopped penetrating her because she had told him it was hurting and that she had later hugged him while sitting on the boat. But the woman denied that as well as another suggestion put to her that he had apologised for hurting her.

She also denied Mr. Scott's suggestion that the two discussed their relationships with other people throughout that night, including after the incident and that she attempted to counsel him.

Moments later the woman admitted that she had told the man that he needed to get some help and, after being shown her statement to the Police said : "Yes I did hug him and told him he needed help."

Under further questioning she said she hugged him to console him because he had started talking again about his relationship with his estranged girlfriend and was crying.

"I never consented to sex," she insisted.