German backpacker makes emotional testimony against her alleged attacker

A German backpacker has broken down in court as she described how she was allegedly attacked by a man with a hammer and run down by a car at a remote South Australian beach.

The 24-year-old broke down in tears as she gave evidence in the trial of a 60-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accused of attacking two backpackers at Salt Creek, east of Adelaide, in February 2016.

She said she heard a scream from her friend and found her naked on the sand with the man standing over her, and she told him to stop.

But then the man came at her and as she was trying to get her bag, which had her phone in it, she says she was struck in the back of the head.

"It was like I was on a boat suddenly," she told the South Australian Supreme Court today.

"I was like, OK, that's it. That's the end.

"I saw myself already buried in the sand.

"I was thinking of my parents, that they would never see me again."

The woman was in tears and asked the judge if she could take a break from her evidence.

She was allegedly hit over the head with a hammer four times that evening and then repeatedly run down by the man in his 4WD, the wheels passing either side of her on one occasion.

The man is also accused of tying up a Brazilian backpacker, threatening her with a knife and sexually assaulting her on the remote sand dunes that evening.

Both women managed to escape the ordeal and the man was later arrested in his car but the hammer and knife he allegedly used in the attack were never recovered.

It's alleged he met them when he responded to an advertisement on classifieds website Gumtree placed by the Brazilian woman seeking a lift from Adelaide to Melbourne.

He has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, kidnapping, endangering life, indecent assault and other offences over the incident.

With AAP.

READ MORE: Backpacker says alleged Salt Creek attack was like a 'horror movie'