MR CATHAL Ryan stated during cross-examination that he most certainly did not punch or kick Ms Michelle Rocca.
Under cross-examination by Mr Nicholas Kearns, for Ms Rocca, Mr Ryan, who said he weighed about 15 stone, added that he remembered somebody screaming obscenities at the top of their voice and somebody beside him being hit.
As he woke up, he noticed Ms Sarah Linton upright in the bed and being slapped. Ms Rocca pulled Ms Linton to the middle of the room and was slapping her and screaming. He got out of bed. It was totally untrue that he got off the bed and punched Ms Rocca.
Ms Linton was dragged all over the room. She was being slapped and kicked. He had to act to try to stop the situation. He pushed Ms Rocca away from Ms Linton. Ms Rocca went back to the wall.
Ms Rocca then "charged" again. His principal concern was to get Ms Linton or Ms Rocca out of the room to stop the attack. He slapped Ms Rocca forcibly.
Asked if he had given Ms Rocca "a hiding", Mr Ryan replied: "I tried to restrain her from hurting somebody very severely."
He was holding Ms Rocca down on the floor at the last stage of the entanglement. He was not punching her. He slapped her on the ground to restrain her.
Mr Kearns said the only person who inflicted the injuries on Ms Rocca was Mr Ryan. He replied: "To the best of my knowledge."
Under the circumstances, it was awful what had happened. "This entire thing" was awful. He regretted what had happened but he did his best to restrain a woman out of control.
Mr Kearns said Mr Ryan had acted like a cowardly blackguard. Mr Ryan said he had not been reared like that.
Mr Kearns asked if he could not have done a "smother" tackle. Mr Ryan said Ms Rocca was violent and frenzied and running towards Ms Linton. He restrained her on the floor. He held her by the neck.
Mr Ryan said the situation was most regrettable. He was terribly sorry that anybody had been hurt, but he was trying to restrain somebody in a frenzied attack on somebody else.
Asked if he could even now bring himself to apologise, Mr Ryan said he apologised to all concerned, including his children. He had tried to restrain somebody five years ago from attacking somebody else. He was very sorry for what had happened.
Mr Kearns put it to him that Mr Ryan did not apologise now and had not apologised then. Mr Ryan said it depended on the definition an apology.
Mr Ryan said his former wife in Colombo, Sri Lanka - who has since remarried - had seat him a sworn statement. She phoned last Saturday and faxed the statement. She said she had been contacted by Mr Gerard Kean, Ms Rocca's solicitor.
Asked by his counsel, Mr Garrett Cooney SC, if he considered he had an apology to make to Ms Rocca after the bedroom incident, Mr Ryan said he did not. His apology was to all concerned for any hurt.
The hearing continues today.
