Man accused of indecent assault was "angry and upset" by allegations

Wednesday 19 July 2017

A 48-year-old man accused of repeatedly indecently assaulting a girl told police officers the allegations made him "angry and upset", the Royal Court heard this morning.

Mark Loane is pleading not guilty to all six charges of indecent assault.

This morning, the transcripts of his interviews with the police were read in Court, as part of the Prosecution case, which is being led by Crown Advocate David Steenson.

In the first one, recorded on 31 October last year a few hours after his arrest, Mr Loane said he did not understand where the allegations against him came from or why the complainant would say "these things." He repeated "I never touched her" several times throughout the interview. Towards the end of the interview, when he was asked if he was saying the victim was lying, he replied: "I’m saying she is not telling the truth. The parts of touching her are absolutely not true."

The officers asked him to explain why the complainant would give a "very detailed account" of the alleged assaults. He replied: "I don’t know why she is going into so much detail because none of these things happened. I do not understand how she came to that level of detail when you know that didn’t happen."

Mr Loane also said he felt "angry and upset" by the accusations, particularly those of physical abuse. When asked by the officer "why would she make those allegations? What would she gain from you being accused?", he replied "That’s what I don’t understand."

Advocate Stephen Baker, then opened the Defence case by reading a series of statements from friends and colleagues of Mr Loane. One of them said he was "shocked and surprised" by the allegations and described Mr Loane as "a techie who is more interested in the latest technology than in people" and who was never "sexually intimidating, inappropriate or lewd." 

Another said he "did not believe he (Mr Loane) is capable of doing anything of this nature" and that the general impression he gives is that of a "...techie, geeky entrepreneur who loves his wife and children and is passionate about his business."

A longtime friend of Mr Loane, who has known since 1990 and also worked with him on several projects, wrote "I couldn’t believe he would be accused of something like this" and added "I never saw anything that made me think any of the allegations fits his personality."

Both the Prosecution and the Defence will make their final comments to the 12 members of the Jury this afternoon. It is expected a verdict could be reached tomorrow after Royal Court Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith gives his final directions.