Pc denies string of sex assaults

The court heard Mr Stewart refute all the allegations

A Strathclyde policeman accused of a series of sex assaults has taken to the witness box to protest his innocence.

Dean Stewart, 35, denies raping three women and indecently assaulting another six between 1998 and 2004.

The officer, from Paisley, has admitted having sex with one of the women, claiming it was with her consent.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Mr Stewart reply "no" nine times when asked whether he had carried out a sexual assault on each alleged victim.

Mr Stewart has been a constable in North Ayrshire for eight years.

When asked by his defence lawyer, Edgar Prais QC, if there was any truth in any of the allegations, he said: "None at all."

'No truth'

In one case, he is alleged to have abducted and raped a 27-year-old woman in a police car between 1 January, 1998, and 31 December, 1999, the exact date being unknown.

It is alleged that he pretended to the woman, who was said to have been under the influence of alcohol, that she was under arrest, and induced her to go into the car and drove her to an unknown spot near Kilbirnie where he raped her.

Asked if there was any truth in the woman's allegation he replied: "None at all. I did not abduct her and I did not rape her."

Mr Stewart told the court that he had visited the woman's Kilbirnie home on 10 to 20 occasions over six years regarding her two sons, who were continually in trouble for breach of the peace, fighting, and an occasional incident involving the low level misuse of drugs.

The trial continues.