technicality in the Supreme Court trial of a man accused of kidnapping and severely sexually assaulting his underage girlfriend.

And in another twist in the strange case of an illicit love affair gone bad the accused -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- admitted he has been convicted once before for having unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14 and has another conviction for common assault on the complainant.

Ruling on a point of law Puisne Judge Norma Wade upheld a no-case submission on the charge of having unlawful carnal knowledge which was brought forward by defence counsel Sharon Kenny, who successfully argued the Crown did not produce any evidence and therefore failed to prove the age of the complainant.

Mrs. Justice Wade informed the ten-woman, two-man jury that they will be instructed to find the accused not guilty on the third charge of the five-count indictment. The defendant faces four more charges of serious sexual assault, sexual assault, deprivation of liberty, and assault causing bodily harm.

"The Crown should have provided some type of evidence,'' Ms Kenny told Mrs.

Justice Wade. "Some certificate of birth or confirmation of age from the surviving parent or even her grandmother.'' The complainant's grandmother had minutes earlier stepped down from the witness stand after testifying she saw her granddaughter with a swollen face and puffy blue eyes the morning after the alleged assault. She was not questioned on the complainant's age however.

Crown counsel Khamisi M. Tokunbo argued there was no statutory provision requiring age to be proved. He said: "The evidence here is from a 17-year-old witness who has given her date of birth and her age at the time of the offences. My friend has laid in waiting to ambush us on this point but it is up to the jury to decide on this with the rest of the evidence,'' he countered.

But Mrs. Justice Wade found for the defence and ruled -- in essence -- that it is not enough for the complainant to admit her age in evidence, but that it must also be proven.

As the legal wrangling wound down the accused -- who is now 27-years-old -- took the stand in his own defence.

Under examination by defence council Kim Wilson he offered a vastly different version of their relationship and the events on the evening of August 12, 1994.

He testified he met the accused at a wedding in September 1992 and as the relationship evolved she led him to believe she was 15-years-old.

"I believed her because of the way she used to dress. She seemed like a mature lady; she was intelligent and had a mature attitude,'' he told the court.

It was when he learned her true age -- 13-years-old -- that the relationship began to turn sour.

"She could see I wasn't very happy because of my previous offence and I didn't need to go through that again,'' he said.

Under defence examination he admitted his previous conviction of sleeping with an underage girl.

He told the court the complainant used various threats to keep their illegal relationship alive. At various points he testified, she threatened to go to the Police, to kill him or any other girlfriend, or to commit suicide.

In earlier testimony the complainant admitted to attacking the accused and his girlfriend with a machete and to biting off the ear of another girlfriend.'' "Around the summer of 1993, when I could see she was really losing it, from time to time I'd go missing to get away from her. I'd stay at friends' houses and hide my car,'' he said.

The accused testified on the night of August 12 he had planned to meet with the complainant and finally put an end to the tempestuous relationship. He told the court she came freely with him in a company van to a warehouse on Dundonald Street.

Once inside the warehouse they walked to a back wall, holding hands, and sat on a desk.

"I proceeded to ask her why she had done what she'd done and why she was putting me through all of this. Why she was still threatening me and my friends and running around town telling people I had AIDS. But all I got back was attitude; she was real cocky. She didn't care,'' he said.

"I asked her when all this was going to stop... She said she would continue to come to my job, she would continue to damage my car, and she would definitely be going to the Police. She also said she was going to get (my girlfriend).

"The minute she said she was going to do harm to (my girlfriend) I instantly punched her in the mouth. She came back kicking and clawing at me with her fingernails.'' The two eventually calmed down and continued talking, he said. At that point the complainant agreed to stop the threats and they left the warehouse.

Under cross examination by Crown counsel Khamisi M. Tokunbo the accused admitted he took the complainant's threats of violence and suicide seriously and considered her "dangerous to me.'' "Yet you call her up and take her to a secluded warehouse. You've just said you didn't trust her, that she was dangerous. You're lying through your teeth,'' Mr. Tokunbo alleged.

"And your purpose for going to this warehouse was to end this relationship?'' "Yes,'' replied the defendant.

"And you're holding hands and walking through the warehouse? With this dangerous person? This lunatic? This crazy person?'' Mr. Tokunbo taunted.

The trial resumes this morning.