A teenager from Cornwall has appeared in court accused of a serious sexual assault on an 18-year-old woman.

It is alleged the 19-year-old grabbed her bottom before pulling up her top and bra and sucking on her nipple.

A court heard he allegedly then forced the woman to kneel on the floor and pulled down her trousers, touching her bottom with his exposed penis.

Truro Crown Court was told the alleged attack was interrupted at that point by someone at the front door.

Nathan Griffin Tranter, 19, of Berries Avenue, Bude, appeared for the first day of a trial on Monday.

He had previously denied a charge that in 2017 he sexually assaulted a woman aged over 16 without her consent and not reasonably believing she had consented.

Philip Lee, prosecuting, told the jury that Griffin Tranter sexually assaulted the woman while she was alone at a house, before the arrival of a friend who sounded the front doorbell. He then left the scene.

The woman, who cannot be named by law, later told her mother what had happened and the police were called. She told police at interview the alleged details of the offence.

Mr Lee said: “Police carried out chemical screening on her bra and found strong evidence of saliva on the inside left cup.

“Following DNA profiling, there is a very high statistical probability, a billion to one, that the saliva matches that of the defendant.

“The prosecution case is that, finding her alone, he took advantage of her for his own sexual gratification. It is perhaps understandable that he should deny it, through shame and embarrassment. That is understandable, but the only sensible explanation of the DNA in the inside of her left bra cup is that he sexually assaulted her in the way she described.”

The court heard Griffin Tranter admitted being at the house but denied any of the sexual acts took place.

The trial continues.

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