DRUNKEN Oliver Ward raped a middle-aged mum-of-three just yards from a city centre street after going on a wild stag night with pals, a jury heard.

Ward, 29, of Toot Baldon, near Garsington, allegedly told his terrified victim he would "throw her in the river" if she made a noise. He then subjected her to a three-hour ordeal while late night revellers walked just yards away, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Speaking in the witness box, the 46-year-old alleged victim said she knew Ward from an Oxford fitness club where he would "stand up and stare".

She told the court she bumped into him as she searched for a taxi in Park End Street, Oxford, at about 2am on July 11 last year.

She was returning home from the Old Fire Station club in Gloucester Green. Ward had been on a drunken stag night at the Park End club.

The woman, who sobbed uncontrollably as she gave evidence, said: "I said hello and then told him that I had to go home to see my husband. "He said, 'Do not go home'. I said, 'Yes, I have got to get a taxi'. With that he put his arm round my neck and held it really tight."

Ward forced the woman down steps to a riverside pathway linking Park End Street and Hythe Bridge Street and raped her, the jury was told.

The woman said: "I started to scream and he put his hand over my mouth. He said, 'If you make a noise I will pick you up and throw you in the river. I have got a fear of deep water. I was so frightened."

The court heard it was getting light by the time Ward finished and the woman fled to a friend's home. She said: "It seemed to go on for hours. As soon as he turned his back on me I just ran and ran." In a medical examination, the woman was found to have several injuries, including "pin pricks" on the side of her head allegedly caused by her earring when Ward slapped her.

Ward denies rape.

In interviews with police, he claimed he had kissed and cuddled the woman and she consented to sex. He claimed the woman wanted him to behave violently.

The case continues.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.