A young woman screamed in terror as she fought off a man who tried to rape her, a court heard.

The 21-year-old, who is epileptic, was left shaking and crying in her nightclothes after the attack in her Bradford bedsit, a jury was told today.

In the dock at Bradford Crown Court is Ebrahim Bismillah, 24, who is accused by the prosecution of being desperate to have sex with any woman.

Bismillah, of Great Horton, Bradford, denies attempting to rape the woman on May 21 this year.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury he crept uninvited into her bedroom at about 5.30am and covered her mouth to muffle her screams.

She said she was alone that night because her boyfriend was working away.

The woman said she lashed out as Bismillah lay on top of her and put his hand under the duvet.

She said he had pestered her for sex, even offering to pay her.

Police officers who came to the house, split into several bedsits, said the woman was shaken and had been crying.

She was in a nightshirt and slippers and told them a man in the house had forced himself on her.

The jury heard that Bismillah said "I'm sorry" to the woman in front of a police officer.

Bismillah, who came to the UK from South Africa in 2003, told the court he attended an Islamic school and had had no sex education.

He had never had a sexual relationship with a woman and could not find a girlfriend in Bradford, he said.

Prosecuting barrister Gerald Hendron suggested Bismillah was "becoming obsessed" with sexual intercourse at the time of the offence.

Bismillah told the jury he walked into the woman's room when she was sleeping because he wanted a cigarette.

He nudged her awake and she started screaming loudly.

He covered her mouth because he was worried the neighbours would complain about the noise.

He said he made no sexual attack on the woman but slipped on the carpet in wet slippers and ended up on top of her.

He denied touching the woman's thigh under the duvet before leaving the room.

Bismillah conceded he went into the woman's room at the wrong time.

He said she and her boyfriend were his friends and he felt comfortable disturbing her.

Bismillah admitted asking the woman's boyfriend on a previous occasion if he could find him a prostitute.

Mr Hendron alleged Bismillah muffled the woman's screams, lay on top of her, pushed her head into the pillow and said he wanted sex.

The trial continues.