A patient suffering from multiple sclerosis has told a jury how she was sexually assaulted by a male nurse at a Canterbury care home.

The 70-year-old woman has claimed she was subjected to "inappropriate" sex talk before being groped.

She told a jury the nurse pressed his erect penis against her and then "wriggled about".

Nurse Laurence Arnold, 58, of Wantsum Close, Herne Bay, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual assault.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes told a jury at Canterbury Crown Court the patient needed help getting ready to go to bed and summoned assistance from a member of staff. It was then Arnold arrived at her room.

Mr Forbes said: "She had mobility problems because of her illness and needed help dressing and undressing.

"She also needed to use a harness to lift her up and move her. Usually two members of staff would be involved in her transfer.

"The Crown claim that it was while she was undressing that this defendant made wholly inappropriate comments, talking about her skin and how beautiful her skin was. He also suggested she looked well for her age.

"Those comments began to make her feel uncomfortable."

The woman, in a police interview, alleged Arnold told her: "Cor, your skin, beautiful skin. How old did you say you were, 69? Cor!

"Women half your age would love to have skin like yours."

The prosecutor alleged that while putting the harness around the patient Arnold "continued to make inappropriate comments towards her".

Mr Forbes claimed: "He began talking about her breasts in these terms; saying: 'Get your boobs out of the way, don't want to catch them in there… 'cause you've got a decent… you've got good, because you have good lot of them'; referring to the fullness of them.

"He then compared them with other residents' breasts, saying hers had not flattened out."

The prosecutor alleged Arnold then lifted her breast with his hands, claiming he was checking for dry skin.

As she hung from the harness during the transfer back to her wheelchair, she said she felt "like a puppet on a string".

"I realised that he was aroused, sexually aroused, and he had an erection. He then lowered me back down to the wheelchair and then said: 'Can I do anything else for you?'..." - alleged victim

She then asked to use the commode and expected Arnold to step outside, but he did not. She then claimed he put his hand over her groin area while pressing himself against her.

Mr Forbes said: "She could feel against her bottom his erect penis, rubbing himself against her, as she described it: 'wriggling around'."

Mr Forbes added: "This happened over a short nightie, but she says that from his movement this was a deliberate act and he was sexually aroused."

The woman told the jury: "I realised that he was aroused, sexually aroused, and he had an erection. He then lowered me back down to the wheelchair and then said: 'Can I do anything else for you?'"

The patient later told police she had been "struck dumb" by her experience but later told a relative, who reported the allegations to the police.

Arnold was arrested and questioned by officers and told them he had examined a mark on her abdomen and was concerned with "skin integrity".

He claimed if he had come into contact with the patient that it was not sexual and "if she felt something in her bottom, perhaps it was something in his over-laden pockets".

Mr Forbes said Arnold denied any sexual assault and suggested that his actions had been misinterpreted.

The trial continues.