A MAN accused of a street assault told a court yesterday his female victim attacked him first.

Richard Hazell is accused of pouncing on the stranger after stalking her from a Metro on June 25 last year.

During the assault, the 23-year-old is accused of threatening to kill the woman and saying he was going to have sex with her.

But Mr Hazell told Newcastle Crown Court yesterday how the woman had slapped him after making him uneasy by looking at him on the Metro and told him she thought he was handsome.

Mr Hazell said he had left his South Shields home to travel to Shiremore to his girlfriend's grandmother's house.

He said he got off at West Monkseaton and decided to ask for directions.

He told the court he was a few yards away from her when she slapped him.

He said: "I was shocked so I just approached her and asked her why she slapped me. I did tell her she was looking at me on the metro and it was making me feel uncomfortable."

He admitted slapping the woman but said she then dragged him to the ground and started to slap him so he sat on her and held her hands.

When asked if he had attacked her for sex he said: "That was the last thing on my mind."

Mr Hazell, of Mill Dam, South Shields, denies indecent assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill. The trial continues.