'˜Half-naked man sexually assaulted me on Sheffield street,' police officer tells jury

'˜I couldn't get his hands off me,' a police officer told jurors as she described an alleged sex assault said to have been carried out by a half-naked man on a Sheffield street.Â
Luca Jelic is on trial at Sheffield Crown CourtLuca Jelic is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court
Luca Jelic is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court

When two female police officers outside a block of flats in Scotland Street in Sheffield city centre in the early hours of April 27 this year, defendant, Luca Jelic, was naked from the waist down. 

Jelic, 29, is alleged to have sexually assaulted one of the female police officers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as she and her colleague attempted to restrain him after he brandished a '˜for sale sign' at them. 

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Giving evidence at Sheffield Crown Court today,  the officer described how Jelic sexually assaulted her as all three individuals involved in the altercation were on the floor. 

'I couldn't get his hands off me,' said the woman, adding: 'It felt like he was trying to penetrate me through his trousers. Both of us were trying to get his hands away. 

'As soon as I would get one of his hands off my crotch area, the other one would replace it. He continued that behaviour for what felt like a long time.' 

'He made sexual comments throughout the incident,' she continued. 

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Jelic's barrister, Andrew Smith, asked the officer whether the defendant may have inadvertently moved his hands towards her crotch area as he was flailing about on the floor. 

She replied: 'No, that's not possible at all. It was clearly a direct act. There was no reason for his hands to be up.'

The officer told the court that Jelic bit her leg during the altercation. She subsequently used CS gas on him and pulled his shirt over his head as she and her colleague continued to try and restrain him. 

The other officer involved in the altercation told the court how when they arrived at the scene and began to approach Jelic he shouted something along the lines of: 'Lovely girls for me to rape. I love sex.'

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She described how her colleague told her Jelic, of Scotland Street, Sheffield was grabbing her, causing her to punch him in the face and strike him with her baton approximately 10 times. 

'It had no effect on him,' said the police officer, adding that she was not able to reach her CS gas, and told her colleague to use hers if she could.  

The police officer said she was not in a position during the altercation to have been able to see whether Jelic sexually assaulted her colleague.

Mr Smith asked both officers whether they believed Jelic was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the alleged offending. 

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The police officer he is alleged to have sexually assaulted said she had not made that observation in her initial statement, and could not remember whether he was showing any signs of intoxication. 

Her colleague said she believed Jelic was intoxicated from either drink or drugs during the incident, but did not recall smelling alcohol on his breath. 

The court heard how more police officers arrived as back up a few minutes later, and managed to put him in handcuffs. 

Jelic's alleged sex assault victim described how she was the officer who arrested and cautioned him, to which he replied: 'Ooh handcuffs.'

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Police were initially called to the scene after receiving reports of Jelic damaging a Ford Transit van and a VW vehicle parked outside the block of flats he lived in on Scotland Street, the court heard. 

Jelic denies one count of sexual assault; one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm; possession of a Class A drug, namely MDMA, and three charges of criminal damage. 

The trial continues. 

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