A DEFENDANT has denied calling an officer a homophobic slur, telling the court the word has a different meaning.

Benjamin Patterson, 25, appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Friday (March 15) charged with causing harassment, alarm or distress to a police officer in Abingdon on February 28 last year.

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It is alleged he called the officer a ‘f*****’ but he told the court that it was not homophobic but meant that the officer was ‘soft’.

Patterson, of Lyford Close, Drayton, was also charged with refusing to take a preliminary breath test and a preliminary drugs test on the same day.

He pleaded not guilty to all counts and will appear back at the same court on June 27 for trial.