FAULTY audio equipment kiboshed day four of the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting a student in east Oxford.

Jurors came to court on Friday expecting to hear from further prosecution witnesses in the case of 29-year-old Frank Hollywell.

But Judge Maria Lamb told the 12-strong panel at Oxford Crown Court on Friday afternoon – two-and-a-half hours after the case was listed to get underway – there were problems with the audio recording equipment in the courtroom.

A judge using the courtroom earlier in the day had used a handheld digital audio recorder to tape his cases.

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“That really isn’t really a very adequate way of recording important criminal proceedings and I am afraid I’m not prepared to continue in those circumstances because it appears not everything is picked up,” she told the jury, who were sat beneath a large tarpaulin installed as a temporary feature more than a year ago to catch dripping rainwater from the roof.

Rather than keep the jury ‘hanging around’ until another courtroom with working audio recording equipment became free, she said she would send the panel home and resume the trial on Monday morning.

Judge Lamb said: “I am so sorry. If I could have done anything else about this situation you can rest assured I would have done.”

Earlier this week, jurors heard Hollywell was accused of approaching his alleged victim as she sat on the kerb on Bartlemas Road, Oxford, in the early hours of November 11 last year.

He was carrying a white ‘pole’ and the woman initially thought he might be a student in fancy dress, before seeing he was older, she told the court.

Hollywell allegedly touched her leg before moving his hand beneath her shorts and underwear. Giving evidence to the jury on Thursday, she said she had no opportunity to tell him to stop and her ‘body just froze up’.

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An acquaintance, who was dressed in a bear costume, came to the woman’s aid and took her back to her home where she called 999.

Earlier this week, prosecutor Christopher Amis said police arrested Hollywell after finding a ‘long, white piece of plastic tubing’ that he was holding on the evening which was found in a nearby churchyard.

Mr Amis said: “It seems to be that the defendant did not uncommonly carry things around like that, there is nothing sinister, it was just a habit.”

Hollywell, of Templar Road, Oxford, denies sexual assault and sexual assault by penetration. The trial continues.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward