Colchester: Man 'barged' into flat and launched sex attack, court told

Gatis Heinrihsons, 38, allegedly forced his way into a woman’s home in Colchester, before pushing her onto a sofa and sexually assaulting her.

A trial at Ipswich Crown Court heard he followed her up a set of stairs to the doorway of her flat.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution case is the defendant followed her upstairs, barged his way into her accommodation, pushed her over and proceeded to [sexually assault her].

“She shouted and she screamed, and she told him to get off repeatedly.

“The shouting was such it was heard by neighbouring properties.”

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The court heard the complainant had been out for the evening with a friend, returning to her home late on August 28 last year.

She told the police the assault, carried out with his fingers, was “extremely aggressive”.

Ms Matthews said: “When asked by police what she thought brought the assault to an end, she said because she was screaming blue murder.”

The jury watched footage of the interview, in which the woman said it felt like “he was trying to cause damage”.

She told the officer Heinrihsons said nothing during the assault and was “like a robot”, before he got up and left.

When asked how the assault made her feel, she said: “Just terrified, that somebody could attack me in my own home. That I’ve got no sanctuary.”

The jury was played doorbell camera footage, which captured the sound of screams and the figure of Heinrihsons leaving the flat.

Heinrihsons, of Woodside Close, Colchester, denies one count of assault by penetration.

In police interview, he accepted the footage showed him leaving the flat, but said he “could not remember” why he had entered her home.

Ms Matthews said: “The prosecution’s case is she was not reasonably consenting and he knew that all too well.”

• The trial, which is expected to last four days, continues.