A FORMER South Wales Argus worker accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a night out in Newport has told a jury that he had her consent.

Gareth Brown, of Islwyn Street in Abercarn, denies the assault relating to an incident at the Travelodge hotel in Newport nearly two years ago.

A jury at Cardiff Crown Court has heard how 42-year-old Brown had been on a night out in May 2013.

Prosecutor Janet McDonald said the claimant had taken drugs, namely M-Cat, that night while the defendant had taken cocaine. Both had been drinking on the night.

The defendant and the claimant headed back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning after going to a number of bars in the city centre, the court heard.

Ms McDonald said the claimant woke up to find the defendant performing a sexual act on her.

The claimant was “afraid to confront him”, Ms McDonald said.

But giving evidence today, a tearful Brown said the woman was awake when he got into bed with her.

He told jurors that he was encouraged to "cwtch" her, and insisted he had her consent.

He denied claims that he had performed a sexual act on the claimant while she was asleep and said he would never had done so if she was.

The jury was told that an official police complaint was not made until December of that year.

Judge Neil Bidder QC told jurors that delays in proceedings since the defendant was first interviewed by police in March last year was purely down to “poor administration” and was not the fault of the claimant, the defendant, or the witnesses.

The judge will begin his summing up of the case on Monday.

Proceeding.