A garda accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Co Wicklow garda station has told a court it was a fully consensual encounter.
38-year-old garda William Ryan has pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual assault and one of falsely imprisoning the woman at Aughrim Garda Station in September 2020.
Gda Ryan took to the witness stand to give his account of what happened in the station on 29 September 2020.
He claimed the woman in the case showed him pictures on her phone that he considered "quite raunchy" and made suggestive comments to him.
Gda Ryan also claimed the woman was "very much" behaving in a sexually charged manner and they went upstairs where they had a consensual sexual encounter.
The woman told the court last week that she had gone to the garda station looking for Gda Ryan's help as her son’s car had been seized in Co Carlow.
She said what happened was not consensual and that she was prevented from leaving.
The woman also said she showed the garda pictures of herself in a bikini in an attempt to satisfy him and to discourage him from doing anything else after he slapped her backside.
Prosecuting counsel Maurice Coffey asked the jurors if it was credible that the woman who had had very little sleep, had been for a run and was suffering from a sinus infection was the sort of person who would be up for gratuitous sexual interaction at 10am in a garda station.
He told the jurors that Gda Ryan’s version of events came across as badly written erotic fiction.
Mr Coffey added that it was self-serving and completely implausible, illogical and absurd.
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Defence counsel, Breffni Gordon also addressed the jury. He said the woman was trying to put a slant on things in her evidence.
Mr Gordon added it was farcical to suggest she had shown the garda photos to discourage him and said this was where cracks started to emerge in his evidence.
He said the lock on the door stopped people from outside getting in but did not stop anyone leaving. There was nothing to stop her from leaving the station at any time, Mr Gordon said.
He claimed both Gda Ryan and the woman made a mistake they regretted but he said no crime was committed.
Prosecution and defence lawyers both told the jurors the version of events given to them by the garda and by the woman were remarkably similar but differed on the issue of consent.
Judge Elma Sheahan will charge the jury on the legal issues on Thursday before its deliberations begin.
