A City worker accused of trying to kiss a reality TV star on the Tube said it was a misunderstanding after he tripped and stumbled on to her, a court heard.
Thomas Ledward, 26, allegedly sexually assaulted the television personality after she had rebuffed his attempts to strike up a conversation.
She said a drunk Ledward had taken a selfie of them together and nudged her repeatedly as she ignored his advances on a late-night District line journey. She alleged Ledward then “plunged” in and tried to kiss her, but she kicked and pushed him away.
He told Blackfriars crown court yesterday that he was drunk after a work night out and may have been annoying the woman, but insisted there had been no attempt to kiss her.
“I was on the Tube on my way home, I do try to talk to people on the Tube, and that’s literally all I did,” he said.
“I thought I was being a lot more nice but clearly (she) was quite upset about the way that I acted. I apologise for that. But in no way did I try to kiss her.”
The woman boarded the train at St James’s Park at about 11pm on February 24 last year. Ledward, who had drunk “eight or nine pints”, was sitting opposite.
She said he came to sit next to her despite her efforts to ignore him, and then persisted in talking to her.
She told jurors she felt “intimidated” by Ledward, who then leaned down and tried to kiss her just before reaching his stop at Stepney Green.
But Ledward told the court he had lost his balance as he got up to leave. “I started to trip and stumbled towards [her] when the train was kind of braking,” he said.
“I fell with my arms out in front of me — my hands were either side on the arm rests to stop myself from falling further.”
He denied opening his mouth and “poking” his tongue at the woman. He said he may have touched her shoulder, but only to push himself up again.
Police tracked Ledward down through CCTV and his Oyster card use. He initially refused to answer police questions but then issued a prepared statement saying he could not remember the alleged incident.
In court, he said he now remembers what had happened, having pieced together his memory by searching online for pictures of the woman and retracing his steps.
Ledward, who lives in Stepney Green, denies sexual assault and an alternative charge of attempted sexual assault. The trial continues.
