last summer yesterday characterised the alleged victim as a "very friendly'' woman who was eager for his company.

Testifying for the first time since his trial began in Magistrates' Court late last year, the married Briton said the woman who brought the charges against him "would turn up on various people's boats'' whenever he and his wife would visit with friends at Bethell Island.

"When we'd see each other, we'd both greet each other and recognise each other,'' he said. "Her greeting was always very friendly.'' Recalling one particular occasion, the Officer said he encountered the woman at a party on the grounds of Government House and was asked by her if he was married. When he replied that he was, the woman allegedly said: "Shame.'' A few weeks later, the officer continued, the two ran into each other in the corridor of the Oasis nightclub on Front Street.

"She said `Hi' and put her right arm around my waist,'' he said. "She (then) asked me to come and dance with her. I said I was off to the toilet and she said to come and find her on the dance floor. I said I would and she said that if I didn't find her to give her a ring at home or at the (Hamilton beauty salon in which she worked).

"I said I would (call her) and she said to make sure I did. I didn't see her again that night.'' The woman, who had previously testified that the defendant crept into her apartment during the early morning hours of July 25, 1993 and started kissing and licking her while she slept, was not in court yesterday. The trial continues today.