Accused soldier: 'She didn't know what to tell her partner and kid'

Michael Williams Galvin (left) and Keith Issac Cook. Photo / Stuart Munro

A soldier accused of intimidating a woman into having a threesome with him and another soldier in a Unimog at Waiouru said the complainant told him she was worried about what to tell her partner and child after the incident.

Keith Williams Cook took the stand today on the fifth day of the trial for him and Michael Issac Galvin. They have both pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual violation and three charges of indecent assault for the alleged offending at the Waiouru Army base on October 5, 2012.

Galvin gave evidence yesterday.

After the incident, which the defence argues was completely consensual, Cook said he walked the complainant home. The Crown alleges he followed her home.

"We were walking side by side and [she] started to cry," he said. "I took her hand and asked her what was wrong. She told me she had a partner and kid and she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say to them."

Later that morning in the shower block, Cook heard some other soldiers talking about an alleged sexual assault. "Rape was the word they used," he said.

He maintains he was "150 per cent" sure he and Galvin did not force the complainant into doing anything.

After realising the alleged assault was in relation to him and Galvin, Cook said he "freaked out".

"I was literally s****ing myself," he said. "All I could see in my head was the word 'rape' and jail."

During the closing of the defence case for Cook, defence lawyer Roger Crowley urged the jury to remember they should be convicting only if they were sure.

"You are not here to judge lifestyle. You are not here to judge people who may or may not have made a poor decision. You are not here to judge sexual promiscuity. Has the Crown, in the evidence you have heard in court, proved the case to you beyond reasonable doubt?"