A jury has been sent out to deliberate in the trial of a Hampshire photographer accused of sexually assaulting an aspiring actress during a photoshoot more than 10 years ago.

Pascal Molliere, 54, from Havant, is alleged to have repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments to the woman, whose identity is protected by law, touched her genitals, and kissed her during an hour-long photoshoot at a warehouse in Fulham, west London, in July 2010.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court were sent out to consider their verdict on Wednesday afternoon before Judge Philip Bartle dismissed them home after two hours and 57 minutes.

He told the court he would not be sitting on Thursday so adjourned the trial until Friday morning at 10am when the jury will return to continue deliberations.

During the trial, jurors heard the alleged victim, who was 22 at the time while Molliere was 44 or 45, had moved to London to pursue a career in acting and contacted Molliere in 2010 for headshots via a website called StarNow.

She was said to have borrowed money from her mother to pay for the shoot, which took place at Cooper House on Fulham Broadway, between July 1 and 31.

When she arrived to meet Molliere, he locked the door and was “polite and professional” for the first 15 minutes while he took headshots, but allegedly started touching her and took photos of her from underneath once she had undressed, the court heard.

Molliere told the jury that the incident “absolutely” did not happen and that the woman was “confident” and “very keen” to do “sexualised” adult pictures in which he photographed her naked.

Molliere, of Havant in Hampshire, has denied four counts of sexual assault and having any sexual contact with the woman.