A GUEST at a 21st birthday party in a Herefordshire village more than a decade ago has told Worcester Crown Court how a sex attack that night has ruined her life.

The woman, who was 17 at the time, was grabbed in a field and forced to commit a sex act on Jason Warren before being raped, said Simon Davis, prosecuting.

She said the alleged attack at the hands of 31-year-old Warren, of Moor Street, Hereford, has left her a shadow of her former self.

Warren has denied rape but told police that he had sex with her consent.

The offence is alleged to have happened between May 31 and October 1, 1991.

The woman admitted that she had previously had sex with the accused at her home, a few months before the alleged incident.

"It was just a one-off and there was no bad feeling," she said.

There had been no further contact until the 21st birthday party, at a secluded house. The woman said she had had a couple of drinks and was "a bit merry" when she arrived at 10pm. She saw Warren and he threatened to have sex with her but she dismissed it as a stupid remark.

At the end of the evening, she was looking for a girlfriend and Warren offered to help in the search. It was pitch black but she was not frightened because she knew him, but when he tried to kiss her, she slapped him across the face.

It was then, she alleged, that he threatened to kill her and carried out the sex attack. She didn't struggle because she was frightened and he bit her all over her body.

Afterwards, he walked off. "I felt dead," she said. "I pulled my clothes up and lay like a little ball in the field for the rest of the night. My brother found me the next morning."

Asked why she did not report the incident at the time, she said: "I was young and so frightened."

She added that she had been completely traumatised. She had been a bubbly person but the incident left her feeling sad all the time. She pulled out all her hair because Warren said he liked it and she was under the care of a psychologist for four years.

Cross-examined by Roger Harrison, defending, she agreed that she had regarded Warren as a good-looking, attractive young man and a very nice person.

Asked why did not cry for help from friends in nearby tents if she was being forced to have sex against her will, she replied: "I was so frightened."

The trial continues.