A MAN accused of attempting to kidnap a woman with the intent of raping her has dramatically changed his plea as his trial was due to start.

Philip Hann was reported to have attempted to grab a woman, who fought him off and ran to a group of people who assisted her.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Hann was arrested in May 2021, after the 55-year-old grabbed a woman near the Tees Barrage in Stockton.

A statement read out to the court said: "I Philip Hann accept that when I approached her to grab her it was with the intention of sexually assaulting her. I had not thought which form this would take but at no time before or during did I intend to rape."

The jury for his trial had been sworn in yesterday (Tuesday, April 26) but had not heard any of the evidence before the defendant changed his plea.

Hann, of Skinner Street, Stockton, was remanded in custody and will return to court on June 8 to be sentenced.

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