A New South Wales police officer has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court after he allegedly lied to a court to support a fake rape claim by his then-girlfriend.
Scott John White is facing two charges of perjury, after he told a court he did not discuss a statement with Sarah Jane Parkinson, who he has since married.
Parkinson accused her former partner of raping her in March 2014.
The jury heard she had told police she was hanging out washing in the garden of the house they had bought when her former partner assaulted her, slamming her head into a brick wall and raping her.
The jury also heard evidence police called to the home found her in a state of distress.
The court was told police arrested her former partner as he left work, and he was jailed until they realised their mistake.
Today, the jury in Mr White's perjury trial was told Parkinson was convicted of making a false statement and jailed after she eventually pleaded guilty to the charge.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the court the case was about not telling the truth.
"This trial is about telling lies," he said.
He told the jury the one place you could not tell lies was in court.
Mr Williamson told the jury the evidence would include text messages between Mr White and Parkinson, and a recorded phone call from Canberra's jail.
Matter 'more complicated than it seems': defence lawyer
The jury has already heard a recording of the evidence Mr White gave in the hearing for which he has been charged.
During the recording, the prosecutor quizzed Mr White about communications between him and Parkinson over the evidence.
Mr Williamson: Have you spoken to Sarah Jane about her statement?
Mr White: No ... I knew she was making it ... I sat in the foyer.
Mr Williamson: Did you discuss with her what would go into your statement?
Mr White: No.
Mr White's barrister John Purnell told the jury there was much more to the story than the prosecution wanted them to believe.
He said the relationship between Parkinson and her former partner had been troubled, and there was a record of her reporting domestic violence.
But Mr Williamson said the man had never been charged with any offence in relation to those claims.
A police officer who was involved in the investigation of Parkinson's complaint told the court Mr White appeared to be honest and upset about what had gone on.
The officer also said he had believed Parkinson about what had gone on until she pleaded guilty to making a false claim.
Another senior officer, Detective Sergeant Matthew Innes, conceded police had made a serious error.
"The entire prosecution of [the former partner] was a mistake," he said.
The trial is expected to take five days.
