The trial of a Warwick man accused of aggravated sexual assault got underway at Supreme Court yesterday, with the victim taking the stand for most of the day.

Before Assistant Justice Archibald Warner, the 41-year-old Devonshire woman told the 9-man, 3-woman jury how the man, whom she said she did not know, sexually assaulted her on December 9, 2001.

The 30-year-old man has denied the charge. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison bars if convicted.

She testified that she and a female friend went to the Club 40, where they each had two drinks. According to her, as they were standing on the outskirts of the dance floor, two more drinks were sent to them. She said she then went over to the man and thanked him for the drinks.

Once on the dance floor, she said, he joined her and her friend and they danced in a group.

"But there was no touching," she said.

The woman further testified that after feeling "happy and a little tipsy" she took the decision to catch a taxi home instead of driving her car when she departed Club 40.

"As we were walking along Front Street heading towards the Flagpole, a black male joined us. I recognised him from dancing at the club," she said. "As we approached the Cenotaph, this man helped us stop a taxi."

The woman told Mr. Justice Warner that before she entered the taxi, the man told her that he was travelling to a cousin's house who lived in close proximity to her. She said the three of them then proceeded to Devonshire.

Once the taxi dropped her across the street from her home, she said she went in and closed the door briefly to indicate to the driver that she had made it in safely.

The woman then testified that she re-opened her door to let the fresh air in, something she said she did customarily.

But, she said, she was alarmed moments later when she looked up to see the accused at her door.

"I recognised him as being the man from the club, " she said. "He invited himself in. Whether he used verbals or not, I don't know."

She said he then went into her sun room. The woman told Mr. Warner that she then smoked a cigarette which the man had. Eventually, she testified, they sat next to each other on a couch in the room.

After talking for a while, the woman said, the man went outside to smoke a marijuana cigarette.

"I stayed inside the house. I did not ask him to leave because I was wondering how I was going to get this stranger out of my house."

She then said after she used the bathroom, which adjoins her bedroom, the man was standing in her bedroom's doorway.

"He then spoke to me in a firm voice and indicated that he expected me to have sex with him," she said as she wept silently on the stand. "I said no and went to push past him and he blocked me."

The woman said she proceeded to punch him in the face, but he eventually overpowered her and punched her several times about the face. She said he them pinned her to her bed face up and hit her again.

"He then produced a 12-inch knife and held it to my throat and said if I did not cooperate, he would kill me," she said. "Then I blacked out."

The woman said the next thing she remembered, she was standing in her kitchen naked from the waist down. She said the man put the knife to her throat again and again threatened her.

"I pleaded with him. I was crying. I asked him why was he being so mean to me," she said.

The woman testified when she went into the bathroom to rid her mouth of blood, she pleaded for her attacker to allow her to seek medical attention, realising her jaw had been damaged.

"He told me to tell them (medical authorities) that I don't remember what happened when I got out of the taxi," she told Mr. Warner.

After she rinsed her mouth, the woman said the man pushed her on the bed - face first this time - and said "Let's try this again".

The victim said she did not struggle this time out of fear for her life.

"My face was to the side and I saw him put on a condom," she said.

She testified that the sexual encounter lasted between five and ten minutes.

"He then pulled his pants up and left the premises," she said.

The woman said she then went to the hospital and the incident was reported to Police. Although she was not X-rayed on the night in question, she had emergency surgery four days later for a triple fracture in her face.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher questioned the woman about her activities during the hours of December 8 and 9, 2001.

"You gave evidence that you had been drinking that night?" Ms Christopher asked the woman.

While she admitted she consumed two drinks before going out that night, the woman was adamant she was not under the influence.

"I was not drunk. I knew what I was doing. I was fully aware of my surroundings, " she said. "I was not drunk, I was happy, tipsy."

"I am going to suggest that you had a conversation with him (the accused) on the dance floor?"

"Yes, but I said nothing to him any differently than what I said to any others that night," the woman replied.

And when Ms Christopher suggested to the woman that her door was left open because she was expecting the man, the woman said: "No, as I said before, I do it to let air in. I still do it to this day. I refuse to be a prisoner in my own home."

The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues today.

Graveney Bannister appears for the Crown.