Papy Kadima Tshikala (52), Dunamaise View, Portlaoise, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was working at Regional Hospital Mullingar in 2024, where the girl, then 17 and suffering from depression, was admitted.

The trial continued on Wednesday before Judge Cephas Power and a jury of five women and seven men at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court

An adjudication hearing of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told that four such incidents occurred on a single day in June 2024, leading to an internal investigation after they were reported by a social worker.