A 49-year-old Pembroke man went to his ex-wife's home, asked her for a ride to his own home, and sexually assaulted her once he got her there, a Supreme Court jury was told yesterday.

The man -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- allegedly committed the offence on July 1, 1997. He is also charged with entering the woman's dwelling house without lawful excuse on the same date.

The complainant who was married to the accused for 10 years, divorced him in the late 1980s. At the time of the alleged sexual assault, she said that "they were divorced but not separated.'' Around 4.00 a.m. on July 1 last year, the woman said she was sound asleep when she was awakened by the sound of the sliding door opening. She jumped up and saw her former husband standing there.

"He told me that he was high, not off coke but off of liquor,'' the woman testified. "And he told me that he wanted me to take him to his house.'' At the time of the request, the woman said that she was dressed in her night clothes and a pair of socks.

The pair then left in a car and went to the man's home. She said he was agitated so she asked him if he wanted to go for a drive in the hope that he would calm down.

Eventually she and the accused drove back to his home and went inside and they conversed.

Later on she said that the conversation changed and he began to tell her about a pair of underwear that his mother had purchased and he took off his pants and showed them to her.

Soon after, she said her ex-husband approached her and he smelled strongly of stale liquor so she told him to clean up in the hope that he would leave her alone while he did that.

However the man insisted that she accompany him to the bathroom on at least two occasions.

Subsequently he began to plead for her to have sex with him because "he hadn't had any in a long time.'' But she refused.

The woman said that she began to feel sick and went to the door to vomit and the man came up behind her and they ended up on the bed.

And the man then manoeuvred himself on top of her and used his knees to pry her legs apart while taking off her undergarments.

"He forced my legs open again and the next thing I know he was thrusting himself inside of me. His penis was inside of me. I was still holding my breast area crying and shaking. It went on for a few minutes.'' Under cross examination from defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, the woman denied that she had been engaging in foreplay with her former husband.

And she admitted that when she went to the bathroom with her husband the second time she used the toilet in his presence.

"Would you not agree that was an intimate act?'' Ms Christopher asked.

The woman said that she did not know. But when pressed she admitted that it was something she only would have done in a situation where she felt comfortable.

Moreover the woman said that despite their legal divorce, she and her husband joined the church together and that in the "eyes of the Lord'' the accused was still her husband.

Crown Counsel Charlene Scott appears for the Attorney General's Chambers. The case is being heard before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller.