A JURY has heard that a Slough resident who accused another man of sexually assaulting him in an alleyway has a history of making spurious allegations.

Ranjit Singh, 42, of no fixed abode, is on trial at Reading Crown Court, charged with perverting the course of justice.

On February 2, 2021, Singh - formerly known as Ranjit Dhaliwal - called 999. He stated that a man he was with at the time had sexually assaulted him.

The two of them were walking in the direction of Slough Police Station, and officers came out to arrest the other man.

Singh was taken inside the station for an interview.

The prosecution in the case contends that Singh made a false allegation to police, telling them he had been sexually assaulted in an alleyway near the Jobcentre on the high street.

Giving evidence in court today (February 12), the defendant denied this.

He said that, in actual fact, he had been trying to make two separate complaints to the police, relating to different incidents.

The police, Singh claims, confused the two incidents - both of which related to the same man.

He said the man attacked him on February 2, 2021, as well as on a date he could not remember a year before.

He claimed that the 2020 assault occurred in an alleyway near the Jobcentre, where Singh was urinating - while the second attack allegedly took place on the high street, the same night he called 999.

Singh testified that, on both occasions, the man approached him and touched him inappropriately.

Also giving evidence today was PC David Morgan, one of the investigating officers in the case.

PC Morgan said that Singh had a history of making unsubstantiated complaints to the police. On one occasion, Singh called 999 to allege that a man in a building he was living at had pulled a knife on him.

As a result of this complaint, three of Singh's neighbours were arrested.

On March 17, 2021 - a month after the sexual assault complaint - Singh told the police that a man and woman in the B&B he was staying at had threatened him with handguns.

The pair were arrested, and the defendant was taken in for questioning. But, at interview, Singh retracted his claim that any firearms had been produced.

The trial continues.