A student who was allegedly “rugby tackled” to the ground and sexually assaulted by an Army diver as she walked home from a night out in Ipswich suffered bruises and scratches in the alleged attack, a court has heard.

The 21-year-old woman told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court she had knocked her chin during the incident causing a bruise and she also had scratch marks behind her ear, which she claimed were caused by her alleged attacker’s fingernails when she tried to free herself from a headlock.

Giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court on the second day of the trial of 33-year-old Adam Bonner the woman said she also had bruising on her arms where he had allegedly grabbed her.

She also claimed she had a bruise on her elbow which was caused when she fell to the ground during the alleged attack.

Bonner, of Ipswich Close, Sutton Heath, has denied sexually assaulting the woman.

The court has heard the student, who is less than 5ft tall, shouted and swore at Bonner and begged him not to rape her or hurt her after he allegedly grabbed her as she walked along Rope Walk.

During the alleged attack in the early hours of October 10 2014 Bonner told the woman to be quiet and at one stage he put a jacket over her to smother the noise when she tried to shout, said Richard Kelly, prosecuting.

The alleged attack came to an end when police officers, who had been called by local residents who heard the woman’s screams, arrested Bonner after finding him lying on top of her, the court heard.

He later told police he had been drinking and his memory of what happened was “blurry”.

He said he had been walking around looking for a taxi after attending an Army colleague’s leaving do and claimed he had kissed and “messed around” on the ground with a woman he had been talking to.

He said he didn’t remember her screaming or telling him to get off her.

Mr Kelly said the defendant was married with two children and at the time of the alleged attack his wife had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

The trial continues today.