A PASSER-BY has recalled the moment he spotted a ‘distressed’ woman trawling through East Oxford hours after she was allegedly raped.

Peter McIntyre took the stand at Oxford Crown Court, telling jurors he was walking his dog along Crown Street when he noticed a woman asking a man for directions at about 8am.

He said he saw her wander off down Cowley Road, towards South Park, but thought it was odd she seemed to be wearing clothes from the night before.

Giving evidence today, Mr McIntyre added: “She seemed distressed. At one point she was crying.”

The witness told jurors he caught up with the woman, immediately calling police after she sobbed and revealed she thought she might have been raped.

Mr McIntyre escorted the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to his home nearby while they waited for officers to arrive, along with his wife Lise Bosher.

He recalled the woman declaring ‘I never forgot before’ and raising concerns her drink was spiked.

Defendant Changqing Shao, 21, denies raping the woman in his student halls after meeting at Oxford nightclub The Bridge, in Hythe Bridge Street, on October 18 last year.

While being quizzed by defence barrister Adrian Redgrave QC, Mr McIntyre refuted claims the woman told him she was ‘drugged’ and not raped.

During the trial, jurors heard Shao, of Collins Street, Oxford, told police the pair had consensual sex.

Shao was later acquitted of rape.