A TRIAL has started for a man accused of abusing his former partner after moving in with her during the Covid lockdown.

Daniel Grant, of Piers Row, Deddington, has been charged with one count each of controlling and coercive behaviour, assault by beating, sexual assault, possession of a bladed article and two counts of breaching a non-molestation order – all of which he denies.

The 38-year-old is accused of controlling his former partner by forcing her to come off her mental heath medication, choosing what she ate despite a food intolerance, checking her phone, accusing her of cheating and criticising the way she looked.

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Grant allegedly then assaulted the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, outside a pub in Deddington, near Bicester, after she filed a non-molestation order against him.

He is now standing trial at Oxford Crown Court.

A jury heard on Monday (April 29) that the pair in 2005 while taking a computer course but later reconnected on Facebook and started a relationship in January 2020.

They then made the decision that Grant would move in with the complainant in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic lockdown.

However, the woman alleged she ‘quickly became concerned’ about Grant’s behaviour, describing him as ‘becoming very controlling’.

Grant reportedly forced the woman to change the décor of her home, criticised her clothing, threw away her gluten-free food making her unwell, and ‘insisting’ she stop taking her mental health medication.

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The woman cut off the relationship in July 2020 when Grant allegedly accused her of cheating after looking through her phone.

A non-molestation order was made in February 2021 after the pair had a turbulent ‘on again off again’ relationship for the rest of 2020.

Grant allegedly breached this order on April 2021, reportedly climbing over the woman’s garden gate and hiding in her home until a neighbour helped remove him from the property.

It is then claimed on January 15, 2022, Grant had pushed the woman up against the wall of The Deddington Arms pub after he spotted her in the area.

He allegedly kissed her and put her hand on his genitals to ‘hold while he urinated’.

Grant had also reportedly pulled out a flick blade and said he ‘wasn’t afraid to use it’.

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The woman was able to flee from Grant and he was arrested on January 19.

He told police the pair had shared a consensual kiss after becoming upset when bumping into each other.

He denied the rest of the allegations.

The trial continues.