One of four men on trial for raping a teenager told gardaí two months after the alleged incident that he would tell the complainant then "sorry, try to forgive us".
The four men have pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the then 17-year-old girl on the night of 27 December 2016. A fifth man is not before the court.
The 17-year-old girl got into a car with the men in the early hours of the morning in a midlands town and it is the prosecution's case that the four defendants each sexually assaulted her as the car was driven out of the town.
The car was driven to a remote location nearby and it is alleged that all five men raped her in turn at this location.
The car was driven to another location and it is alleged that three of the men falsely imprisoned the girl at this point in the car while one man sexually assaulted her and another raped her.
The four defendants deny all the charges. They were aged between 17 and 19 at the time and cannot be identified under the 1981 Rape Act.
On day 13 of the trial, the jury heard evidence of the arrest and interview of a third defendant, now aged 24.
The court heard he was aged 19 when gardaí arrested him at his place of work in March 2017.
He told gardaí that the girl asked for a lift home and then said she wanted to go to a party.
He said when the car arrived at the remote location she initiated sex with him. He said she had sex with him while the other men were outside the car.
He said that the girl did not say anything but he believed she was consenting.
He said she never pushed him away, never shouted or screaming, saying "she had plenty of chances to get away, she didn't run or anything like that".
Garda interviewers later put it to the accused: "Didn't you know it was wrong?" and he said "yeah we did after, the next day".
He added: "Five lads and one girl and she was young, 17. It wasn't fair on her."
Asked how he now felt about the complainant, he said "I feel bad, sorry" and asked what he would say to her, he replied "sorry, try to forgive us".
He accepted a submission from gardaí that he and the others "took advantage" of the teenager during her time in the car but did not accept they had raped her.
A detective garda who arrested the accused agreed with Colman Cody SC, defending, that the defendant was advised he had the right to have a solicitor present but declined to have one.
The garda also agreed that the accused was advised that he did not have to answer any questions but that he did provide answers to the questions put to him.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Tara Burns and a jury.
