Marie Farrell made the comments in evidence in Mr Bailey’s civil action against the Garda Commissioner and the state over the investigation into the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier near Schull in late 1996.

Ms Farrell said that while she was working in Schull Golf Club in summer 1998, she, her husband, Det Sgt Maurice Walsh and his wife were having drinks at the end of the night. Ms Farrell said she went to check the toilets and could see Sergeant Walsh behind her.

He was intoxicated, got her up against the wall, tried to open her clothes, opened his own trousers and exposed himself, she said.

She said he said something along the lines of “what would you like to do with that?” and asked her “isn’t it a real turn on fitting up the long black bollocks or the English bastard or whatever they called Ian Bailey”.

She “just pushed him away”, said “for feck’s sake Maurice, Pauline’s out there”, fixed her clothes and walked out.

Asked had she done anything about the matter, she said: “There’s no point, things like that happen when people have drink on them.”

She did tell her husband.

In her evidence, Ms Farrell said she lied during the 2003 hearing of libel actions by Mr Bailey after gardaí “told me to stick to the story”.

Those lies included claims she saw Mr Bailey about 2am on a road near Schull on December 23, 1996, hours before the body of Ms Toscan du Plantier was found, and had been harassed and intimidated by Mr Bailey on several occasions, she said.

She also said that when Supt Dermot Dwyer was about to retire, he referred to her having up to 15 unpaid fines totalling some €1,500 for speeding and insurance matters and said she should make some payments off those and she paid off some €300 over time.

Det Garda Jim Fitzgerald previously told her not to worry about those and whenever she got one, she had given it to him, she said.

Det Fitzgerald was concerned about a review of the murder investigation by gardaí from Dublin and told her to get a name off a headstone in Longford and tell the Dublin team the dead person was the man she was with on the night of December 22/23, 1996, she said.

The Dublin gardaí told her, if she did not co-operate, they had her husband’s fingerprints and could make it look like she was covering for him, she said.

Also yesterday, a tape recording was played of an April 1998 phone conversation between Ms Farrell and Det Fitzgerald. She said it related to her making a statement to Sgt Walsh and Det Fitzgerald being unhappy she had done so.

Asked about a remark by Det Fitzgerald: “I deserve an answer after a fucking year and a half on this phone,” she said that referred to the “constant phone calls”.

The defendants deny all of Mr Bailey’s claims, including of wrongful arrest and conspiracy. The case continues.