A man alleged to have punched and strangled a woman he’d met after matching with her on a dating app told investigators that he was a “weak man” who becomes angry when he is drunk, the Royal Court heard yesterday.

Connor James (34) is charged with committing grave and criminal assault against a female victim at her St Helier flat on 16 March 2025. He denies the charges.

The Islander is said to have subjected the complainant to a “brutal” and “senseless” attack, during which he smashed her over the head with a chair and strangled her.

He is also accused of smashing up her mobile phone, thereby preventing her from seeking help from either friends or the authorities.

Mr James was arrested in the morning of the alleged attack and told his mother: “I’ve made my bed, I’ve got to lie in it.”

At the Royal Court yesterday, Mr James’s police interview from the 16 March was read to jurors in its entirety as the final part of the prosecution case.

At the start of the interview, the defendant told police that he was “looking forward to seeing what the hell has gone on” between him and the complainant.

He accused the complainant of acting “crazy” and referred to “flashbacks of me laughing in her face whilst she is whacking me with something”.

The defendant went on to describe “hitting a female” as “a bit out of my character”, before noting that “anything is possible”.

Mr James told police he was on Hinge to find a relationship, and said he “wouldn’t have said no” to “having sex” with the complainant.

Jurors heard him say in his interview that he initially thought the date was a set-up, as he’d been tricked “several times” on other dating sites in Jersey.

He admitted to having taken codeine “recreationally” in the run-up to the alleged incident.

“It just stops me from craving alcohol, because alcohol is not good for me, hence why I’m here,” he told the authorities.

Mr James also said during the interviw that he has a tendency to become angry when drinking alcohol.

“I don’t know myself,” he told officers. “It’s not like I drink and become angry – there has to be a button pushed, you know what I mean?”

Turning to the events of the night in question, he explained: “I’d already had it with this woman, I was just like, no, f*** you – so I’m just, like, belittling her because she said something.”

When it was put to him that he had struck the complainant in the face, Mr James said he was “speechless”.

“F***** hell, yeah, wow, hopefully that’s a lie,” he said.

Responding to details of the complainant’s account and pictures of her bloodied face, he repeated that he had “no recollection” of the allegations, before telling police that her account of the night “sounds like a movie”.

“You can certainly see bruising there on the left temple and swelling,” the then-33-year-old conceded.

“I couldn’t picture myself ever hitting a woman”, he added, while noting that her whole body appeared “bruised and battered”.

“She’s definitely been punched”, he stated.

Commissioner Caroline Wright is presiding.

The trial continues this morning.