Alleged victim boasts of being 'bigger than Louise Nicholas'

A solo-mother of three lied repeatedly and boasted she was going to be "bigger than Louise Nicholas", a rape trial jury was told today.

Police recruit Mark James Tulloch, 31, stands accused of sexual violation by rape in the High Court in Wellington, relating to an alleged incident at the woman's suburban Whitby house in April last year.

Tulloch and the complainant met on the website www.NZDating.co.nz, moving from chatting online, to cellphone messages, finally meeting in person several hours before the alleged rape.

Tulloch's lawyer, Mike Antunovic, questioned the woman about a series of other unsubstantiated complaints to police she had made - including one against her current partner for assaulting her and molesting her daughter, two other rape complaints and of a $14,000 jewellery theft by a former flatmate.

"Is not a bit of a pattern is starting to emerge - that when you get angry at someone, you make a false complaint about them?" he asked her.

He also questioned her over how she managed to see the "smirk on his face" and identify his tattoos - when the alleged rape happened in the dark.

"You have been caught outright lying," he told her.

Mr Antunovic also asked her about whether she had told a former flatmate she was seeking media attention after alleging a number of policemen in Foxton had raped her in May last year.

The woman had driven, drunk, to visit her children who had been taken away from her. After her arrest, she asked the names of police officers in the station.

"You [told your flatmate] you wanted everyone's names there, so you could go to the media and be `bigger than Louise Nicholas'," the lawyer said.

"You said you would have the jury eating out of the palm of your hand."

Whenever questioned about conflicting details she had given police during the investigation and at various points in the trial, she frequently repeated herself.

"He raped me."

"I was in shock."

"I can't remember."

"I got hurt by that man and I have to sit here and endure this?"

Mr Antunovic suggested the woman received bruises from drunkenly falling over when trying to "dirty dance" with another man at a party next door, rather than during any alleged rape.

Thorough forensic investigation of the crotch of her jeans and bed found no spilt semen.

She had tried to use the alleged rape to provoke another lover into feeling sympathetic and take her back, Mr Antunovic said.

He highlighted witness accounts, describing Tulloch as "a quiet person", "shy" and "very thoughtful".

"In fact, you had once asked Mr Tulloch if he liked rough sex and he said he didn't, did he?"

She, by comparison, had previously sent a message to the other lover, whose name is suppressed, saying "my fanny is still sore from the jackhammering you gave it. Haha."

The trial continues tomorrow.

- NZPA