Bill Cosby ‘drugged female friend then sexually assaulted her'

Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a female friend after giving her pills that left her "frozen" and unable to escape, a trial has heard today.

Andrea Constand, who had stuck up a friendship with Mr Cosby, said she accepted the blue pills after the comedian told her they were herbal supplements that would help her to relax.

After they took effect she became aware that Mr Cosby's hands were on her body but could not move, she told the entertainer's sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania today.

Ms Constand is one of more than 50 women who have come forward in recent years to accuse Mr Cosby of assaults said to date back to the 1960s.

Her claim is the only one to reach court because the time limits on all the others have run out.

Ms Constand first met Mr Cosby in late 2002 after being hired as the director of basketball operations for Temple University's women's basketball program.

The comedian, then one of America's most beloved comedians, was a university trustee and the Philadelphia school's most famous alumnus.

Their initial work contacts gradually became a friendship, with Ms Constand saying she thought of Mr Cosby as "somebody I trusted" and "a mentor".

She said that she had gone to Mr Cosby's house for dinner when he offered her three blue pills which he said were her "friends" and would help her to relax.

Ms Constand said she had gone back the following day to ask what she had taken but the comedian refused to tell her.

Mr Cosby has denied all the allegations of sexual assault and rape made against him.

In cross examination, his lawyers pointed out that the two had repeatedly been in contact after the alleged assault.

That suggested that the encounter was consensual, the court was told.

Ms Constand acknowledged that she had maintained contact but said that she felt obligated to do so because of her job.

The trial continues.