A Fishponds man groped a woman after she told him she wanted a sex change, a jury was told.

Bristol Crown Court heard that 42-year-old Nigel Baxter was alone with the woman in a Bristol flat when he pulled her towards him and kissed her.

It is claimed he then touched her improperly and forced her hand to touch his private parts.

Baxter, of Ettricke Drive, Oldbury Court, pleads not guilty to three sexual assaults on December 9 last year.

Ian Dixey, prosecuting, told the court that after the alleged assaults the woman's friends returned to the flat and could see she was upset.

Baxter admitted kissing her and said he had enjoyed it. Police were informed and when Baxter was interviewed he said the kiss was consensual, the woman initiated it and nothing else happened.

Speaking from behind a screen the woman told the jury she lived life as a man and hoped for a sex change.

She told the court how "quite drunk" Baxter chatted with her on the sofa and she chatted to him about her wanting gender re-assignment.

She said: "He was saying he saw me as one of the lads and he would treat me as a lad.

"After all that he just seemed to be very nice."

The woman said suddenly Baxter put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

She said: "He pulled me down to the seat where he was sat and then he kissed me.

"I said 'can you stop squeezing me so tight, I'm not interested, I'm not that way inclined'."

The jury was told Baxter gave the woman an "aggressive" kiss before groping her intimately.

She said Baxter then made her put her hand on him improperly.

The complainant told the jury that when her friends arrived on the scene Baxter told them they had kissed.

She described how she was in a state, did not know what to do and was scared.

She then recounted how one of her friends sent her a mobile phone text message asking "What's happened, what's wrong?"

Following that, she said, the friends decided to ring the police.

The complainant firmly denied she consented to kissing Baxter and insisted improper touching took place.

The case continues.