A WETHERSPOONS manager sexually assaulted a heavily intoxicated woman out celebrating her birthday in his pub, a court heard.

Gareth Davies, 56, followed the married woman to a nightclub where she was “10 out of 10 drunk” on the dance floor.

Davies later turned up at a flat where the woman’s friends had laid her on a sofa in an “unconscious” state.

They found him kissing her with her underwear around her ankles and he immediately admitted doing “something wrong”.

Photographs taken by her friends to prove how drunk she was were shown to the jury.

The woman and her friends started her birthday celebrations at The George, a Wetherspoons pub in Brecon, South Wales, where Davies was manager. They went on to the Sarah Siddons pub and Harley’s nightclub where CCTV showed Davies dancing with the woman who can’t be named for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Craig Jones said: “The woman ended up very drunk indeed and when she and her friends went to a flat in the town she was laid on the sofa.

“She had fallen asleep and was unconscious, her friends took her shoes off and lifted her legs onto the sofa.”

The revellers were eating pizza in the kitchen when they heard noises coming from the living room.

Mr Jones said: “They found the complainant on the sofa with her suit undone in the groin area and her clothes around her ankles.

“Davies was kneeling on the floor and kissing her.

“When it was pointed out to him that the woman was not in any position to do anything sexual the defendant said: “I’ve done something wrong.”

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the woman’s friends roused her from her drunken state to tell her what had happened.

Mr Jones said: “She started to cry - when the police arrived they found her on the sofa and upset.

“When he was arrested Davies claimed the woman had kissed him passionately and he had checked with her that it was ok before loosening her trousers.

“But she did not consent to what was happening. She was fast asleep and so intoxicated she was incapable of consenting.”

Mr Davies told the jury: “The defendant’s position is that she was fully consenting - that will be the central issue for you to decide.”

The woman downed Prosecco, Strongbow cider and shots of Tequila during the birthday celebrations in September 2018.

In her police interview she was asked: “On a scale of 1 to 10 how drunk were you?” She replied: “Definitely 10”.

Davies, of Merthyr Tydfil, denies sexual assault. The trial continues