A MAN has described to jurors the moment he says he was pushed to the ground and raped as he walked home from an exercise class.

The alleged victim, who is in his 40s, said he was sexually assaulted by a man he met as he was walking home through a nature reserve.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the alleged victim returned home in an 'agitated state' before the police were called.

Michael Kinfe Tewelde is accused of attacking the man near the Maze Park Nature Reserve, in Middlesbrough, at around 7.30pm on Thursday, April 29 this year.

Jurors heard how when the attack was over, the man used his gym towel to wipe himself clean before walking home in an ‘agitated state’.

During police interview, a recording of which was shown during the hearing, the man struggled to contain his emotions and he described what he says happened to him after he was pushed to the ground

He said: "I went to pick up my bag and my mat, he pushed me from behind so have gone over.

"I had leggings on and shorts because I had been to the exercise class, he pulled him down and it only lasted a couple of seconds.

"I don't really know, I just remember that I was laid on the floor."

The police were called and a DNA sample was recovered from the towel and the hunt for his alleged attacker got underway with a public appeal for information.

The man said he was left with bruising on his knees as a result of the alleged attack.

When Tewelde was arrested he initially denied there had been any sexual contact with the man but then changed his story to the sex being ‘consensual’ between the pair.

Under cross examination from defence counsel, Paul Newcombe, the man denied that he had willingly taken part in sexual activity with the accused and denied that he had walked into the bushed area with the defendant.

Mr Newcombe asked the complainant whether he was aware that the area around the park had a reputation for people meeting for casual sex. He replied: "No, I wasn't. I have never heard of it."

Mr Newcombe asked if the man had 'led' his client on by his behaviour that day. Again the man replied: "No."

He asked: "Do you take risks with your own health in behaving this way?"

"No," the man replied.

The 36-year-old, of Leeds Street, central Stockton, pleaded not guilty to the allegation of rape.

Tewelde spoke only to confirm his name and enter a plea through a Tigrinya interpreter.

The trial continues.

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