A woman began to tell Supreme Court how her cousin allegedly sexually assaulted her in her Pembroke home during the opening day of his trial yesterday.

The victim, who was 25 at the time of the incident, told the court she had offered for him to stay at her apartment after meeting him during a night out with a friend. Neither of the parties can be named for legal reasons.

In response to questions from Crown Counsel Paula Tyndale, she explained that she shared her apartment with two female friends and their children. On the night of November 5 last year, she said, she had been working at a local bar as a waitress. After finishing work, she went to Splash nightclub to meet a girlfriend who worked there as a cocktail waitress.

When her friend finished work at around 4am, she said, they continued on to the Champions bar. She listed her alcohol intake over the course of the night as a vodka, half a shot of Hennessy, a bottle of Twisted Tea and the top of a bottle of a second Twisted Tea.

She said that after leaving Champions she and her friend went downstairs and got talking to the defendant, currently aged 24 and from Hamilton Parish.

Because the Police were present near her cousin?s unlicensed car, and she did not want to drive him home all the way to the place he was staying in Warwick, she offered for him to stay at her place, she said. They arrived home after 6 a.m.

She said that she had known her cousin since she was 15 and described their relationship as ?decent.?

She said after arriving at the house she had taken some takeaway food to her bedroom and he sat on her bed. After offering her a spliff - of which she said she had taken a drag and decided it tasted ?funny? - she later dozed off to sleep.

?I was awakened by him pulling at me. He was pulling my side, trying to turn me over,? she said. She said she tried to push him off, telling him ?you?re my cousin? while he responded ?come on, come on.?

She then described how - clad in boxers but no shirt - he began the alleged sexual assault. She is set to continue her evidence tomorrow.

Earlier in the course of the day?s proceedings, the trial heard from Detective Constable Steven Palmer of the Forensic Support Unit.

He said he had taken pictures of the scene of the alleged sexual assault and seized some items including what he described as ?red G-string panties.?

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher asked Det Con Palmer whether he would describe a skirt pictured in one of the photos as ?very short in length.?

The officer replied that he had listed the item in his notes as ?jean shorts? and that he could not recall if they were shorts or a skirt.

The defendant denies one charge of sexual assault. The case continues.