A married man on trial for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl has told a court that e-mails exchanged between them were of real, in-depth conversations.

The court also heard that in one e-mail, the man told the girl he would kill her "with his bare hands" if she was telling people about their relationship.

The defendant, 37, a British national who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty in Supreme Court to having unlawful carnal knowledge with a girl aged 14 on July 24, July 29 and August 7 last year. He is represented by Elizabeth Christopher.

Ms Christopher opened her case yesterday with the defendant taking the stand as the first witness and throughout his testimony, he denied on numerous occasions having sex with the girl.

He confirmed meeting her during the Easter break. He also confirmed they had exchanged many e-mails which he said were inappropriate. However, he claimed most of them were "real conversations", the court heard.

The defendant told the court that the first time they met was on his day off. He said he took his dog for a walk towards Dockyard and the girl met him where they talked for about an hour.

He said she asked if anything was going to happen between them and he told her 'no' because she was too young.

The next occasion, the accused said they met at 9 Beaches where they took their dogs to run around on the beach.

The defendant told the jury that when they got to the beach, the girl grabbed his right arm, turned him around and kissed him. He denied having sex with her or performing oral sex on her.

On July 29, the defendant said he gave the girl a ride to her mom's house as he was going to the Airport to pick up his sons, the jury heard.

He said he got to the airport early so they decided to go to Ferry Reach Park to sit and talk. He said a few moments later, the girl got an angry call from her father, who called her a "conniving little bitch" and asked her where she was.

The accused told the court they talked for 30 more minutes and then he left to go back to the airport. He said he did not have sex with her that day.

"This is what upset me the most. She knew I was only there to get my boys. No, I did not have sex with her," he said.

On the final alleged sexual occasion, the defendant said he met the girl because she had something important to tell him.

They met at a small beach near her home and talked for 30 minutes until her father called asking why she wasn't at home, the court heard. He said she went to her house and he went to his and spent the afternoon with his sons jumping off the dock by his house.

He said he did not go into her house that day nor did he have sex with her.

The day before he was arrested, the defendant said the girl asked him for a lift and he agreed to meet her close to her house.

He said when he arrived at the meeting place, she was there with her father. He said he didn't know what was going on so he went home.

Minutes later, her father came to his house asking if he was having an affair with the girl.

He told her father they were "good friends" and he left, the court was told.

The next day, Police officers came to his house and arrested him for sexual exploitation of a minor.

Crown counsel Robert Welling grilled the accused during cross examination about e-mails exchanged between the girl and the man.

"When you first saw (the girl) you were immediately attracted to her," charged Mr. Welling. "You saw her as a pretty girl in the street." The defendant denied this.

Previously, the court looked at e-mails, in one of which the defendant told her: "From the time I first saw you, I knew I was in trouble." Mr. Welling wanted to know what the defendant meant by those words.

The defendant responded by saying that before he met the girl he had heard unflattering rumours about her. "As soon as I saw her and looked her in the eyes, I thought it probably wasn't true," he explained.

Responding to further questions by Mr. Welling, the defendant conceded he didn't know if the girl would show the e-mails between them to anyone.

He said he feared his wife would have left him if she had seen them.

Realising the relationship she was having with an older man was wrong, the girl tried to end it, but it was the defendant who did not want it to end, suggested Mr. Welling.

In an e-mail dated April 25, 2007 sent from the man to the girl, he told her: "I got really angry and upset when thinking about us... I know if we are alone, I can't resist you.

"I have even been hurt by my wife before but that reason (didn't stop him from ending his marriage) ... I feel so strong about us, it hurts, if you want this to stop, whenever you want, let me know ... I won't make love to you until you're 18."

Mr. Welling asked: "Were you trying to keep the relationship going?" The defendant stated: "I was throwing it back at her – in a sense she's in control."

In another e-mail, jurors heard, the man said to the girl: "I hope you're being careful with what you're telling your friends... because if you tell someone about us... I'll kill you with my bare hands."

The trial continues.