A man accused of molesting a woman as she exercised in a park told jurors how he had hugged and caressed her after she had signalled him to join her.

The prosecution alleges Simon Gould, 44, approached the woman from behind, grabbed her around the neck and then touched her breasts.

She screamed and struggled with him before fleeing.

He was arrested the following day in Eastleigh town centre.

Gould said that as he entered Lakeside Country Park in Eastleigh she jogged past him. It was a hot summer’s morning and as she walked up and down she removed her top.

“I didn’t think she was wearing a bra,” Gould said.

He said she then beckoned him over, caressed her breasts and asked him: “Would you like to be here?”

He didn’t reply but walked over to the bench where she was doing sit-ups and sat down next to her.

Gould told Southampton Crown Court they talked about the weather and she made a few jokes. He said: “I asked if she was spoken for and she said her wedding banns had been read.”

He claimed they hugged and kissed and he caressed her breasts under and over her clothing before leaving.

But he said he had only gone about 20 feet when he turned around and saw a man aggressively bending over her.

“He was quite menacing and talked to her in a growl more than anything,” he said. “She looked a bit frightened of him. He had his hand on her windpipe. I didn’t want to get involved but she seemed such a lovely person. I swore at him to move off and he pretty much ran off.”

Gould said he and the woman then hugged again.

“That was about it. I told the woman that if I had upset her, I apologised. She said I hadn’t and I left.”

Denying he had grabbed her in a headlock and assaulted her, he said: “I genuinely thought it was consensual touching.”

Gould, of no fixed address, denies sexual assault.

Jurors are expected to retire today to consider their verdict