Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Garda accused of sexually assaulting woman told her to ‘wear something tight’ to the station, trial hears
It is the State’s case that Mr Ryan prevented the complainant from leaving Aughrim Garda Station and sexually assaulted her three times.
4.28pm, 18 Jul 2024
28.6k
THE COMPLAINANT IN the trial of a serving garda accused of sexual assault at a Co Wicklow garda station has said she “absolutely did not” consent to any sexual contact.
William Ryan (38) has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault and not guilty to one count of false imprisonment of a woman at Aughrim Garda Station, Main Street, Aughrim, Co Wicklow on 29 September, 2020.
It is the State’s case that Mr Ryan prevented the complainant from leaving Aughrim Garda Station and sexually assaulted her three times.
The woman had gone to the garda station for advice about retrieving her son’s car, which had been seized by gardai the previous day in Co. Carlow.
Gda Ryan denies the allegations.
When asked by Maurice Coffey SC, prosecuting, if she consented to any of the alleged sexual contact, she replied “absolutely not.”
Earlier today, the complainant told the jury she went to Aughrim Garda Station to speak to Gda Ryan about the process to retrieve her son’s impounded car.
She said Gda Ryan brought her into the station through a side door and they spoke in the public office about her concerns. He then sexually assaulted her.
Continuing her evidence, she said she tried to leave and Gda Ryan, who was standing in the hall, made a lewd comment before telling her she had to return the favour.
She said she had her phone and showed him a photo of her on holiday. She said he then grabbed her breasts under her top. She said it was very quick and rough.
She said she told him to stop, that she had a husband and that she wanted to leave.
She told Mr Coffey SC that she didn’t feel she could leave as Gda Ryan was blocking the door.
Later in her evidence, she said “I felt I couldn’t leave. I felt the things he was saying, I had to stay until he had done what he done.”
The complainant said Gda Ryan asked her to go upstairs and she told him she wanted to leave.
She said he told her: “If you go upstairs, you don’t have to do anything, you don’t have to look at me and can turn your back to me.”
The complainant said she froze and wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
She said Mr Ryan locked the door before he ushered her upstairs. She said she suggested he go first, thinking she could get out but he put his hand on her shoulder as they went upstairs.
She repeated she wanted to leave and he replied “It won’t take long, so the sooner it’s done, the quicker I can go.”
She said they initially went into a conference room, before going to the shower room. She described facing the window while Gda Ryan was standing behind her.
She said she heard him unzip his trousers, then put his hands on his penis. She also heard him moaning.
She said she continued to look out the window and “couldn’t believe this was happening”: “I didn’t want to be there, I froze in the moment.”
She said Gda Ryan placed her hand on his penis and she pulled it away. She said he grabbed her hand again and put it on his penis. He also pulled down her leggings and touched her buttocks.
Advertisement
She said he then sexually assaulted her by digitally penetrating her vagina.
She said the entire incident lasted around seven or eight minutes. Afterwards, she said Gda Ryan told her to wash her hands in the sink, which she did.
He then started “making conversation” but she was thinking: “Where has he been for the last 10 minutes?”
She said she wanted to leave as quickly as possible and nearly fell downstairs.
She said Gda Ryan unlocked the door for her and as she left, he told her to ring him if there were any issues about her son’s car.
“I was thinking what the hell? Did you think what happened was normal? It felt like he was being normal and I was afraid for my life.”
She said she got into her car and her husband called her to ask about how things went at the garda station. She replied “fucking horrendous” and would tell him later.
She went home, where she washed and changed her clothes. She put her leggings and t-shirt into the laundry, but placed her “zippy top”, which was wet, into the wardrobe.
A navy zip top was shown to the complainant, who confirmed it as her’s.
She said later that day she and her husband gave their son a “stern talking-to” about the car. After this, they were alone and she said she told him what had happened at the garda station.
“I told more or less everything. He said: ‘That shouldn’t have happened.’ I said ‘I know, but he’s a guard, they can basically do what they want.’”
Later, she clarified that she didn’t give him full details that evening about what had happened in the shower room.
She said she saw Gda Ryan the next day while she was out and he asked her about her son’s car. She said their conversation was very brief.
The complainant said she made a formal complaint to gardaí about a month later and confirmed she gave them the zip top and her phone.
Under cross-examination, she agreed with Breffni Gordon BL, defending, that she put the zip top in a bag before putting it in her wardrobe.
When asked why, she said she had a “feeling” about it and accepted that she wore the zip top while sitting in her car after the alleged incident. She said she couldn’t recall if she told her husband about the zip top that evening.
She agreed with Mr Gordon that she had messaged Gda Ryan before the day in question, but said it was not often and only about advice of an official nature.
Mr Gordon suggested it was “a very strange thing to do if you are under sexual attack and want to get away from a person making these unwelcome unsolicited advances” to take out your phone and show them a photo.
The woman replied: “In that second, I wanted to leave. I knew he wasn’t going to let me out, I decided to give him something so I could get out.”
Mr Gordon put it to her that she was willingly showing photos on her phone to his client, which she rejected.
Defence counsel showed the complainant two photos and she agreed it was possible they were displayed as tiles on her phone when she opened her camera app.
Mr Gordon suggested it would have been odd for his client to tell her on a call that he was going to have a shower and to ask her to wear something tight. She said she was more concerned about her son’s car and had only had about three hours’ sleep.
She rejected the suggestion that she had previously engaged in “banter” with Gda Ryan, but agreed he was considered a “friendly guard” by people in the town and many others had his telephone number.
The trial continues before Judge Elma Sheahan and the jury.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
The Enoch Burke saga and what happens when prison is no longer a deterrent
3 hrs ago
4.9k
Dell of Killiehuntly
Two remaining ‘deliberately abandoned’ lynx roaming the Scottish Highlands captured safely
Updated
5 hrs ago
21.8k
38
Tralee
Three sisters from Kerry win top prize at Young Scientist 2025
Updated
7 hrs ago
45.6k
49
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 138 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 95 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 123 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 93 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 68 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 67 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 32 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 28 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 115 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 56 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 67 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 74 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 39 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 77 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 75 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 54 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say