A 51-year-old has gone on trial for sexually assaulting a woman on Griffith Avenue in Dublin just over a year and a half ago.
Anthony Lyons, from Griffith Avenue in Dublin has admitted he did what the 26-year-old woman said he did to her, but has pleaded not guilty because he says he was on prescribed drugs at the time and developed an "irresistible" and “uncontrollable urge."
The woman was walking home from a family night out on 3 October 2010 when, between 2.15am and 2.30am, she was sexually assaulted.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today heard that Mr Lyons came up behind her, knocked her down and carried out the assault. She called for help but he told her to be quiet and put his hand over her throat and mouth.
He asked her "are you going to get home safely" but she hit him on the head with her mobile phone. She called the gardaí with her mobile phone, which he tried to take off her but he broke off the cover.
A passerby shouted at him and he ran away but gardaí arrested him near the scene.
Prosecuting Counsel Kerida Naidoo told the court that when questioned, Mr Lyons continued to deny attacking the woman even though the gardaí put to him he had a cut on his head where the woman hit him, he was identified by the victim and the passerby and his umbrella was found at the scene.
However, the court heard that ten days later Mr Lyons changed his solicitor, went back to the gardaí and told them he had done it, he was terribly sorry but he had taken prescription drugs and that was what made him do it.
The court heard Mr Lyons had been out drinking pints of Guinness and watching a rugby match that night.
He then left his friends to go alone to Café en Seine, but instead got out of the taxi and sexually assaulted the woman.
Mr Lyons has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
His defence is that he had taken a prescribed cholesterol drug and cough syrup and when he saw the woman, he had "an uncontrollable impulse," "an irresistible urge" to do what he did and therefore lacked the necessary mental element to convict him.
The trial before a jury of 11 men and one woman continues.
