A FORMER policewoman concocted a story that a colleague had raped her after her husband found out about their affair, a court has heard.

But counsel for Natalie Irene Passalick says the rape did occur, and the internal police investigations led by ''dinosaurs'' from the Ethical Standards Department were compromised by police preconceptions.

'Investigated by dinosaurs' ... Former policewoman Natalie Passalick leaves court. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Passalick, 29, is on trial in the County Court on one count of making a false report.

Prosecutor Bob Johnson told the jury in his opening address that Passalick and Heath Merry, whom she accused of rape, had been in an intimate relationship from December 2008 to April 2009.