"That would be doing her a disservice, it wouldn't be fair to either party," Mr Desmond said earlier this month. When Judge Punshon refused the application — saying he would not have a jury empanelled that excluded Greek people — Mr Desmond then made the application on behalf of his client "in fairness" to him.

Asked by Judge Punshon what the issue was with his client, Mr Desmond replied: " I don't want a Greek juror empathising with a Greek complainant (the woman), your honour." Judge Punshon responded: "I'm not going to have a jury selected on the basis of race, nationality." The discussion took place on July 8 as Mr Desmond's client and two other men represented by other barristers prepared to plead not guilty to a number of charges.

The trial ended last week when Mr Desmond's client was acquitted and the other men were found guilty. In a transcript of the exchanges, Mr Desmond began his submission by telling Judge Punshon it would be appropriate that there be a "general exemption for a category of potential juror to be inquired of in the case here".

Asked by Judge Punshon what was the issue of fairness to the complainant, Mr Desmond replied: "Greeks. "See, the allegation here, this is a Greek complainant and her nationality will be established on the evidence, your honour, it's part of the narrative and there are allegations here of anal penetration and there's a common misunderstanding in the community that Greeks like anal sex and she might readily then be seen to be compliant and in fact wanting it. "That would be doing her a disservice, it wouldn't be fair to either party."

Asked by Judge Punshon what he meant by not being fair to either party, Mr Desmond said: "Well, there's a misconception in the community that Greeks readily engage in anal sex." Judge Punshon: "Is there?"

Mr Desmond: "They (the jurors) should determine this case upon the evidence, not on the misconceptions." Judge Punshon: "I will tell them that." Mr Desmond: "We should avoid the risk, your honour."

Judge Punshon: "Pardon?" Mr Desmond: "We should avoid the risk."

Judge Punshon: "Well, I'm not going to have a jury empanelled where no Greek people can sit on the jury." Mr Desmond: "Well, it may be there's only two or three on the panel, your honour, I can't …" Judge Punshon: "There will be, but I'm not going to exclude someone simply because they are Greek."

The final composition of the jury is unknown.