A Dublin woman has denied that the Bulgarian man she alleges harassed her was her lover - and not simply a family friend in need of help.
Mary Gilhooley (48), of Cannonbrook Park, Lucan, has denied she had an affair with the now 39-year-old Bulgarian waiter. She said her only relationship with him had been that of a family friend helping him to better his economic prospects.
Vencislav Venev, from a Bulgarian village on the Black Sea coast, has denied harassing her via telephone and by other means on dates between May 1st, 2004, and July 14th, 2004.
Ms Gilhooley, a medical secretary at a city hospital, also denied on the second consecutive day of cross-examination by Seán Guerin, defending, that she was the author of several letters, written in German, sent to Venev professing her love for him.
She denied she ever sent him letters referring to his "gorgeous and sexy young Bulgarian body", his exotic accent, and passionate love-making between them.
One letter, translated into English and read out to the jury by Mr Guerin, told Mr Venev that its author considered herself engaged to him.
Signed "Mary", in a way that she admitted was "quite similar" to her own signature, the letter also asked him to wait for her to be free.
She told Mr Guerin she would never have written such a letter to Mr Venev as she has been happily married since she was 19.
She said the letters must have been "invented", and although the writing on some of them looked similar to hers, it was not hers.
She also denied that during the period in which she alleges he harassed her by telephone she had frequently sent him text messages and spoken to him on the phone for a considerable number of minutes at a time.
"It was imperative that I kept him away from me. I can't elaborate any further," she said.
She said she knew something about him that she had not known about him before, and could not share with the jury.
Mr Guerin told her that outgoing phone records on her mobile during the period showed a pattern in which she would text Mr Venev in the minutes immediately preceding a phone call from him to her.
One of these calls had lasted over half an hour.
She denied Mr Guerin's suggestion that the pattern indicated that the texts she sent Mr Venev said "Call me", rather than "Keep away from me".
She had earlier told Lisa Dempsey, prosecuting, in her direct evidence that she met Mr Venev at a restaurant in Bulgaria when she was there on holiday with her husband in July 1999.
She said she and her family became friends with him and his family. She agreed to help him find a job in Ireland and assisted in securing a work permit for him. Mr Venev arrived in Ireland in August 2000, a year after they first met, and stayed at her house for some months.
Before he arrived in Dublin she travelled alone to Bulgaria for the wedding of Mr Venev's brother and also visited the country with her husband.
She went with Mr Venev to Budapest for one day to arrange for an entry visa for him.
The hearing continues before Judge Kevin Haugh.