Wife of sex attack accused breaks down as she gives evidence

The wife of a businessman accused of sexually assaulting a woman as she walked home has told his trial that he is a kind and gentle man.

Anthony Lyons (aged 51), an aviation broker from Griffith Avenue in Dublin has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the sexual assault of the 27-year-old woman in the early hours of October 3, 2010.

Mr Lyons admits the attack but claims he was overcome with an irresistible urge due to the combination of alcohol, the cholesterol medicine Rosuvastatin and cough syrup.

His wife of 22 years, Eileen Lyons, told defence counsel Patrick Gageby SC that her husband was forgetful and cranky on the day leading up to the attack.

She said she picked up her husband’s cholesterol medication from the pharmacy the day before. The court previously heard he began taking it for the first time that evening.

She said the next day he forgot his phone when he went to a soccer match with their son. She said this was very unlike him and the phone was usually stuck to him “like glue” because he needed it for business.

Ms Lyons said she later drove him to the pub so he could watch a rugby match with his friend. She described him as “cranky” and “not himself” and said that they had to return to the house because he forgot his wallet.

She told Mr Gageby that when she awoke the next morning she saw her husband had not returned home. She tried ringing him but his phone was off and she only learned later that he was in a garda station after his arrest for the attack.

Ms Lyons said the attack was “beyond all understanding” and that her husband had “never lifted a hand” to her or anyone else.

Prosecuting counsel Kerida Naidoo BL asked Ms Lyons: “Isn’t it the reality that you just can’t admit your husband is guilty of this crime?”

“That’s not the reality, my husband is a kind and gentle man”, she responded before beginning to cry.

Evidence has finished in the case but the jury will not be asked to consider a verdict until next Monday.

Judge Desmond Hogan told them he has to wait for a transcript of the trial to be produced to aid him in his closing speech because of the complex medical evidence given by several witnesses on the potential effects of the anti-cholesterol drug.