The DNA of a man alleged to have carried out a terrifying sexual assault on a Peterhead mum was later found on her body and clothing, a court has heard.
Ramunas Smitras, 32, is accused of attacking the woman after he crept into her bedroom while she slept.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court has heard how the alleged attack, in the early hours of April 27 2013, lasted for around an hour and she had to repeatedly fight off the intruder.
A forensics expert today told the jury that a DNA profile found on the neck and jeans of the woman matched Smitras.
Former forensic biologist Linda Muckersie, one of the scientists who led the testing, said it was “approximately one billion times more likely” to be the profile of Smitras than any other man.
Under cross-examination by defence advocate Drew McKenzie, Ms Muckersie confirmed that during testing the alleged victim’s DNA profile had not been found under Smitas’s fingernails, nor had his DNA been found on her inner thigh.
She also confirmed that a grey cap that was found on the bedside cabinet, which was suspected by police to belong to Smitras, was also inconclusive because it contained multiple DNA profiles.
Mr McKenzie put it to her that the number of DNA profiles found during the testing was evidence “of just how easy it is to transfer DNA from one person to another?”
Ms Muckersie agreed.
Mum-of-two tells of ordeal
The woman, who was 24 at the time of the incident but is now 33, yesterday described her terror after she awoke to find a stranger standing over her bed with his trousers pulled down.
She claims Smitras repeatedly sexually assaulted her, attempted to remove her clothing and tried to rape her during an alleged incident.
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.
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.
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
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