Accused denies being abusive to gardaí

A man on trial for raping and assaulting his wife has denied being abusive to gardaí as they walked past him in the courtroom.

The 42-year-old spent day seven of his trial in the Central Criminal Court giving evidence in his own defence. He denied raping, threatening, and headbutting the woman in 2014.

He has already pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife with a hammer in August of that year.

At the start of her cross-examination, Mary Rose Gearty, prosecuting, asked him if he had said “you fucker” to gardaí who gave evidence earlier in the trial.

She asked if he had said the words to one or both of the officers as they passed the defendant’s area on their way to the witness stand. The accused replied that he “absolutely” did not.

The man told Padraig Dwyer, defending, that he met his wife in 1999 and they were very happy together until “something changed” after the birth of their child.

He said the marriage became strained because his wife was working too many hours and her family did not like him.

He denied that he lay on top of his wife and told her he could rape her whenever he wanted.

On the night of the alleged rape, he denied threatening to cut her face off with a carving knife. He said he had a butter knife in his hand as he told her to go upstairs.

The trial continues.