Bartlemas Road sex assault accused says there was 'no advance'

Giving evidence in his own defence, Frank Hollywell read from a letter he had written as he was quizzed by his barrister Janick Fielding on Tuesday morning.

The 30-year-old is accused of sexually touching the female student, who he happened across sitting in Bartlemas Road, east Oxford, shortly after midnight on November 11 last year. He denies any wrongdoing.

READ MORE: 'Squirrel' gives evidence in alleged sex assault trial

Reading from his letter, Hollywell told Oxford Crown Court: “I ask if she’s waiting for someone. She says yes. I ask if I can wait with her until her friend arrives. She says yes.”

He demonstrated for the jury the crouching position he had initially taken up - resting on his toes and fingers - before sitting beside her clutching his knees.

“No contact of skin, no sexual advance, I flirt,” he went on in the letter, which was written in lilting, lyrical prose.

He claimed the woman had referred to the piece of white plastic piping that he had earlier picked up from a bin and was carrying before he spoke to her. “She said, like humorously, ‘you’re a swordsman?’ I said ‘nah’.”

Hollywell said that another man, dressed in a bear – or squirrel – costume and whom he appeared to dub ‘Bearstamus’, came by. “I recall [the alleged victim] saying ‘can I walk with you, are you going up the road?’”

He added: “Up and off they go, no farewell.” She was around three to four metres away when he then heard her say to the costumed man: “I’m scared.”

Mr Fielding, for the defence, asked his client: “Was there any reason for her to say ‘I’m scared’?”

“How would I know? From my point of view, obviously not,” Hollywell replied.

The barrister asked: “Had you done anything to make her feel scared?”

He said: “I’m a homeless man with a plastic stick. No.”

The defendant said the alleged victim and costumed man had gone up the road with a ‘smile on both their faces’. That was in contrast to the evidence of the costumed man, who told the jury on Monday that the woman was ‘on the verge of hysterics’ when she had asked for his help.

Finishing his letter, he appeared to label the prosecution of him as a ‘shambolic, unlawful mess’.

Cross-examined by prosecutor Christopher Amis, Hollywell claimed his recollection of the events of the evening were ‘clear as crystal – like, brilliant’.

He admitted having used cocaine and heroin regularly but questioned its relevance when he was quizzed by the lawyer for the Crown.

Jurors heard he had been homeless at the time. He had not showered for 22 days prior to his arrest, he said.

Hollywell, of Templar Road, Cutteslowe, denies sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault. The trial continues.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward