A PASSER-BY told a court how he stopped to help an alleged attempted rape victim who ran out in front of his car waving her arms around in a distressed state.

James Theaker said he was driving along York Road, in Redcar, having been on a night shift, when he stopped to help the woman who claims she was attacked by Christopher Johnson.

Mr Johnson, 45, of Clairville Road, Middlesbrough, denies attempted rape, assault by penetration and theft on August 17 last year, and is on trial at Teesside Crown Court.

The witness, a marine pilot who works at The Gare, near Redcar, told the jury: “She was quite distressed and was anxious that I give her a lift.

“She said somebody had tried to rape her and could I give her a lift back to her house. I felt obliged to help.”

He said the woman seemed a little bit disheveled and said he lent her his mobile phone so she could call the police.

Mr Theaker denied an assertion from Mr Johnson's barrister Christopher Baker that the alleged victim had been drunk.

After a night out which ended in the Top Deck nightclub, in Redcar, she had became separated from the group she was with and was offered a lift home by Mr Johnson, who had also been in the club.

The prosecution say the defendant stopped his car in a layby and attacked the woman, stealing cash and her mobile phone, after telling her he was going to have sex with her.

The trial continues.