Man charged with sexual assault of a woman on Bartlemas Road

A 29-year-old man has been charged in connection with sexual assault that happened on Bartlemas Road, a road off Cowley Road that many students live on.

The man, Frank Hollywell, was charged on 12 November, with one count of sexual assault by penetration. The woman was walking home alone at the time of the attack, and the man approached her holding a white pole, according to the Oxford Mail.

The Oxford Mail also said the man allegedly offered to walk her home and the woman said no, and allegedly proceeded to sit down next to a parked car, where the man sat down next to her and “sexually assaulted her under her clothing”.

The accused, Frank Hollywell, appeared in front of Magistrates’ Court on 13 November, in a tracksuit, but did not enter a plea to the charge of sexual assault by penetration as this is an indictable-only charge, meaning it can only be dealt with at the crown court, where the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

According to the Oxford Mail, Hollywell’s solicitor, Richard Demczak, “said the allegation was strongly denied.”

The chairman of the bench in Magistrates Court, David Kinchin, said Hollywell will remain in custody until the plea hearing at Oxford Crown Court on 10 December.