Lorry driver tried to rape woman near M1 services, Leicester jury told

A lorry driver has gone on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of attempting to rape a woman he had never met on a country lane close to a motorway service station. Tadeusz Podlasinski, 60, a Polish national from Nowa Wies Wielka, denies attempted rape, attempted assault by penetration, an alternative count of sexual assault and intentional strangulation.

Prosecutor Michael Brady KC told jurors on Monday that the defendant was persistent in his attempt to rape the woman after grabbing her on Baines Lane, near the Leicester Forest East services on the M1, on 25 April. According to the prosecution, the woman repeatedly told him to stop.

The court heard the woman had walked past Podlasinski's lorry, which was parked in the southbound service station car park, at 18:23 BST. Brady said she then became aware of a man she did not know walking behind her before he approached, seized her and tried to force her into nearby bushes. Jurors were told he demanded she take off her clothes; she refused and began screaming for help.

Brady said the defendant then gripped her neck hard enough to restrict her breathing and leave visible bruising, and threatened to kill her if she kept screaming. The woman managed to push him away and he headed off towards the services, the court heard. She called a colleague who collected her, and police were informed.

Podlasinski was arrested at the service station three days later, on 28 April. The jury was told that in police interviews he denied any interaction with the woman, saying he had not seen, touched or spoken to her, and that when shown a photograph of her he said he had not seen her before. He described his activities that day as routine, listing a day of eating, cooking, using the internet and contacting family and colleagues.

DNA that could be attributed to the defendant was found on neck swabs taken from the woman and on her waistband, the jury was told. The trial continues.