A DETECTIVE pressured an alleged rape victim to drop her complaint after security footage revealed the man she was accusing was his own son, a court heard yesterday.
Sen-Det Patrick Bannan, 50, repeatedly rang the woman and had secret meetings with her in a bid to gain her sympathy and persuade her to change her mind, Bendigo Magistrates' Court was told.
He allegedly tried to manipulate her into believing her case had no merit and that it would become a "circus" if the matter went to court.
On one occasion at her home Sen-Det Bannan allegedly broke down crying and told her how stressful it was for his wife, and asked what he should tell his son her decision was.
The court heard the woman went to hospital saying she thought she had been raped on January 15 last year after a night out at a local hotel.
The woman said she had little recollection of the night, remembered seeing two male figures in her home and believed she had been drugged.
Sen-Det Bannan was one of the two main detectives investigating her allegations.
But he stood down from the case three days later when security footage showed his teenage son, Ainsley, and nephew Brenton McKinnon with the woman at the hotel.
The court heard that in a series of phone calls and meetings, Sen-Det Bannan told her she had collapsed at a cab rank and the boys came to her aid before driving her home.
She was also told she was "all over his son" in the car before dragging him into her bedroom and having sex.
"Patrick (Bannan) went on to say that if this goes to court it's going to be a 'circus' and that nothing will come of it," she said in a statement to the Office of Police Integrity.
Prosecutors dropped six charges against Sen-Det Bannan's son and nephew.
Sen-Det Bannan, of Kangaroo Flat, faces two counts of perverting the course of justice and four of using a position improperly to gain advantage.
The preliminary hearing before magistrate Jonathan Klestadt continues today.
