THE trial of a Hampshire man accused of multiple instances of sexual assault is nearing its end.

As previously reported, Jason Colbourne, 55, formerly of Easton and currently living in Southampton, took the stand on Monday, September 9, after pleading not guilty to a range of offences committed against nine females between the ages of 15 and 45.

The accusations against Colbourne include him exposing his genitalia, sexually assaulting through inappropriate touching and insinuating he would rape the alleged victims between April and September 2023.

READ MORE: 'Well somebody is lying': Man accused of sexual assault denies accusations in court

The defence, Chloe Jay, has finished giving her evidence to the jury, made up of four men and eight women.

Giving his final summary of the evidence, prosecutor Richard Witcombe said that Colbourne had a pattern of targeting his victims with seemingly innocent touching to “test them” before moving into more serious and sustained touching.

The prosecutor said that “sexual thoughts related to girls and women were always close to the front of (Colbourne's) mind,” and added that the defendant gave police officers no explanation for the reasons for the two counts of exposure when he was being interviewed.

Mr Witcombe also pushed back on Colbourne's insinuations that the victims had collaborated on false accusations to ruin him, saying that it would have required the victims to meet and prepare answers within the space of less than a day.

In court on Monday, September 9, Colbourne denied touching any of the alleged victims' bottoms with sexual intent while giving evidence. 

He said: "If I'm going past them I might sweep across their backside. It’s not actually on their bottom. It’s mainly on the cheek of their bottom. I’d just sort of tap them on the side to say I’m coming through.

"Usually if I want to get by anybody, I touch their hips and move them."

He added that the incident where he exposed himself was 'very foolish' after making a joke about sausages. Colbourne said: "On my behalf, it was very foolish. It was literally just a joke and we laughed it off. It was just a silly moment that I had."

The trial continues, with the jury expected to be sent out to deliberate on Thursday, September 12.