A mum-of-two broke down in tears as she described how she was chased through her home by an intruder who crept into her bedroom at night and tried to rape her.
The Peterhead woman, now 33, told a jury of her terror after she awoke to find a stranger standing over her bed with his trousers pulled down.
During emotionally charged evidence, she said she put up “the hardest fight” for around an hour before managing to flee her flat.
Ramunas Smitras, 32, is standing trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court accused of sexually assaulting the woman the early hours of April 27 2013.
A total of three women in Peterhead have accused Smitras of sexual assaults.
He is alleged to have sexually assaulted another woman at the town’s Caley Bar by repeatedly touching her on the body between March 1 and March 31 2013.
He is further accused of sexually assaulting a third woman at Drummer’s Corner in Peterhead town centre by repeatedly seizing her and touching her on the body.
Smitras, a former welder, denies all the charges against him.
‘I woke up and saw him coming into my bed’
On day two of his trial – the woman, who was 24 at the time of the alleged attack – told the jury she first encountered Smitras when he turned up at her door earlier in the night.
She said she had returned to her flat with friends following a night out and Smitras knocked on her door twice and tried to gain entry. On both occasions, he was told to leave.
She said the party eventually ended and she went to bed but was awoken at around 5am to discover a stranger – whom she identified as Smitras – in her bedroom with his trousers down.
“I felt somebody moving the blankets and trying to grab me,” she said.
‘I was trapped in my own house’
“I woke up and saw him coming into my bed – I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
“I was really scared. I just remember trying to push him back and there was fighting back and forth and he managed to push me down.
“He was trying to have sex with me and I was trying hard to stop that from happening.”
The woman told fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar how at one stage she managed to break free of the man’s grasp and barricaded herself in the bathroom.
After around 10 minutes of listening to hear if the intruder was still in the flat, the woman said she quietly opened the bathroom door and made a bolt for the front door.
However, the intruder was still around – and grabbed her.
The pair struggled in her living room and she ended up on the sofa underneath the man, who she said was trying to rape her.
She said: “It was really surreal – I was trapped in my own house. I was thinking ‘is this really happening?’ My brain was racing, as I was so scared.
“I felt it was the hardest fight I’ve ever had to put up against somebody. I felt strong but he still managed to overpower me.”
The woman said she eventually broke free of the man and dashed for the door, finally escaping into the street.
Solicitor quizzed woman on how much alcohol she’d had
During cross-examination, defence advocate Drew McKenzie quizzed the woman on how much she’d had to drink that night – asking whether she could have had as many as 25 drinks.
“It could have been,” she said.
He also probed her on how hard she might have fought back against the alleged attacker.
“You didn’t bite him, or scratch him or pull his hair?” Mr Mckenzie asked.
“I didn’t have any nails”, the woman replied.
“You didn’t shout for a neighbour?” he pressed.
The woman replied: “No.”
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
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