A Pembroke man accused of sexually assaulting a young woman on New Year?s Eve in 2001 admitted yesterday to lying to Police.

The defendant initially told Police in an interview that his penis had not entered the woman as she lay down on a boatyard in Hamilton and that it had been no closer than 16 inches to her.

But yesterday the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Supreme Court jury he put his penis about an inch inside the alleged victim. DNA evidence has shown his semen was inside the woman.

He also admitted lying when he told Police in interview that when he left the woman unconscious in the yard on Dundonald Street after having sex with her, her pants were down.

Yesterday, he told Chief Justice Richard Ground and the jury that he had zipped up her pants when he left her.

He initially told the jury he left her to get a coffee from the 24-hour gas station on Par-la-Ville Road to revive her, but when he returned an hour to an hour and half later, the woman had left.

The jury heard earlier in the trial that the woman was found wandering around Hamilton in a confused state with no trousers on around 2.30 a.m. on January 1.

The defendant told the jury yesterday that he didn?t go to the gas station on Par-la-Ville Road, but instead sat outside MR Onions bar ?contemplating? what had happened.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser asked the man why he hadn?t told Police in an interview in May, 2002 that his penis had touched the woman, and instead said she merely played with his sex organ.

The defendant, who frequently lost his temper, replied: ?At that time I gave what you may call a false statement, but today I am telling the truth.?

Mr. Ratneser asked the man, who said he was a practising Christian and who claimed he prayed all night for the woman after having sex with her, why he would not swear an oath on the Bible.

The defendant quoted a chapter from the Gospel of Matthew about now taking vows.

The jury has heard the woman was drunk after spending New Year?s Eve at Blue Juice bar in Hamilton.

The defendant said he saw her leaning against a wall on Reid Street and she complained she had been attacked by her boyfriend.

He claims she told him she went to Police and they wouldn?t do anything and that she was afraid to go home in case he killed her.

The man, who denies seriously sexually assaulting the woman, said they walked toward Dundonald Street and that he did not believe that the woman was acting strangely or was unable to give her consent.

He claims after having sex, the woman passed out on a piece of cardboard on the ground and that was when he left her.

Government analyst Christine Quigley told the court the amount of alcohol in the woman?s blood meant she would have had difficulty walking and keeping her balance, and would have had slurred speech, nausea and vomiting, impaired judgement, loss of memory and mental confusion.

The woman has testified that she does not know what happened after she left Blue Juice and that she woke up in the hospital with no memory of the events.

Mr. Ratneser told the defendant: ?What you told us in this witness box was totally untrue.

?You had sexual intercourse with this young lady without any consent in that she was totally incapable of giving consent to sexual activity to an unknown man like you.?

The defendant replied: ?That?s incorrect. Only God knows what happened. I know she walked that distance with me.? The man was asked why after having sex with a young woman who had just passed out he could walk away and leave her.

He replied he was ?fearful? because he was black and she was white.

Mr. Ratneser replied: ?You were fearful because you had raped a senseless woman who was unconscious when you did the act.?

The defendant said: ?No, she was not unconscious at that time.?

Mr. Ratneser said: ?You are supposed to be this Christian man who makes out how responsible he is, with young children.

?You had just had sex with an unknown woman. She had passed out in front of you and you left her there and sat in front of MR Onions contemplating what you did. Why did you not go back and take her to hospital??

He said he was afraid of being ?persecuted?.

The defendant then denied he told the jury in the morning that he was away for about an hour or an hour and half.

Mr. Ratneser said he had a written note of those words and Mr. Justice Ground also said he had a note of these times.

The defendant said he went back to the boatyard on the night of January 1, 2002 and found the woman?s bag with some belongings. He is also charged with stealing these items.

The court heard the defendant was caught when he phoned two of the victim?s friends, whose phone numbers he obtained from an address book found in her bag.

He told both friends he wanted to return her bag and its contents in person.

Police arrested him outside of Bistro 12, formerly Rudy?s, when he was attempting to return the bag to the victim.

The 42-year-old defendant is represented by Larry Scott.