EMMERDALE 'SEX ASSAULT' STAR: I'M THE REAL VICTIM; Linford: She cut my nose.

Byline: LUCY THORNTON

EMMERDALE actor Lewis Linford yesterday denied fondling a model in a nightclub.

Linford, 22, is accused of groping her bottom, trying to put his hands under her skirt before leering "I want sex." But on the second day of his trial Linford claimed the blonde, a trained boxer, punched him as they jostled for a cash machine - then yelled he had groped her to justify the attack.

Hull crown court was told he was at the city's Pozition club in December 2007 when the incident took place.

Linford, who starred as Lee Naylor in the ITV soap for 10 months, said when he walked past the girl and her boyfriend at a cashpoint she swore and pushed him. He pushed her back and she punched his face. He claimed she then yelled 'he's touched me up.' Linford added: "She hit me three more times leaving a deep cut on my nose."

When prosecutor Mark McKone suggested he had groped her and said he wanted sex, Linford replied: "Definitely not.." The woman, now 20, can't be named for legal reasons.

Linford, of Swanland, near Hull, appeared under his real name Lewis Smales and denies sexual assault. The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

ACCUSED Actor Linford