A Garda has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting a woman three times at Aughrim Garda station in Co Wicklow almost four years ago.

38-year-old William Ryan denies the charges and has also pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning the woman at the same station on the same date.

The offences are alleged to have happened on a date in September 2020 at Aughrim Garda Station, a one-man station where Garda William Ryan was the sole member.

The prosecuting barrister told the jurors it would be alleged that he sexually assaulted the woman after inviting her to call in to the station about the seizure of a vehicle.

It is alleged that when she tried to leave after the first alleged assault, he stopped her from doing so by locking the station’s side door.

The woman claims she was sexually assaulted for a second time after showing him a photo of her in a bikini, and for a third time after he’s alleged to have ushered her upstairs to a shower room.

The trial continues tomorrow.

Main image: A lantern at a Garda Station. Image: KarlMPhotography / Alamy