A WOMAN who claims she was pinned down by a sex attacker told a jury yesterday: “I thought he was going to rape me.”

The alleged victim of Carl Henry revealed how she pleaded with him to get off her after he had ripped off her underwear and exposed himself.

She said the alleged attack, in Darlington, came to an end only when her child woke upstairs and shouted for help to go to the toilet.

Choking back tears, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, relived the night last autumn during which she says she was assaulted.

She told the jury at Teesside Crown Court how Mr Henry had ignored her sobs and pleas and threatened to have sex with her against her will.

Mr Henry is alleged to have tipped the woman off her sofa, slapped her and held her to the ground while he removed her vest-top and pants.

She told the jury of seven women and five men: “He rolled me onto my back, put my arms down and sat on top of me, pressing on my arms with his knees.

“I started crying. He took the belt off my dressing gown, took my arms out and then snapped the strap on my vest-top and pulled it down, and it ripped down one side.

“I could not move with his weight on me. I was saying to him ‘Please get off me’... He was telling me to shut up.

“He pulled my pants and they snapped at one side. He put my arms above my head. I was trying to get up but I could not move.

“He undid the buttons on his jeans and got his penis out, but my son started crying and I asked if I could go and see him... he said ‘Go on’.”

After allowing his alleged victim to go upstairs, 36-year-old Mr Henry is said to have “come to his senses” and given up on the idea.

Mr Henry, of no fixed abode, denies attempted rape and an alternative charge of sexual assault and faces a trial which is expected to last three days.

He is expected to give evidence when the case for the defence starts today.